In a fresh bid to give Pakistani Taliban another chance to come to the negotiating table, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday set up a four-member committee to oversee the peace parleys, quashing speculation of an imminent military operation against the banned militant group.
“Since the other side (Taliban) has shown intent to negotiate, we also wish to give peace yet another chance,” Sharif said in the National Assembly. He, however, made it clear that “terror attacks should be stopped. Terror and talks cannot go hand in hand together.” Stating that all arms of Government are on the same page, Sharif declared that his government had taken all parties on board to curb terrorism.
“All parties’ conference was called to evolve consensus against terrorism. Government has adopted a clear strategy to deal with menace of terrorism.” Reacting to Sharif’s offer, Taliban spokesman Shahidullah Shahid said in a statement that the group’s central ‘Shura’ would meet “to minutely review the decision of the government and would take a decision on the matter in a few days”.