ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday offered talks to the Taliban and constituted a four-member committee for talks with them, saying the government has adopted the path of talks with the Taliban to give peace another chance in the lager interest of the country.
The committee includes Irfan Siddiqui‚ Rahimullah Yusufzai‚ Rustam Shah Mehmand and Major (retd) Muhammad Amir, while the federal minister for interior Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan who remained a focal person for the dialogue process will assist the committee and he will personally monitor the whole process.
In his address to the National Assembly on Wednesday, the prime minister said that peace is our destiny and will achieve as the whole nation is united for this purpose. He said that despite bitter experience of the past‚ we give another chance to the peace talks.
The prime minister appreciated Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan’s proposal for talks with the Taliban for peace and offered one to one meeting for further consultation.
Nawaz Sharif said that he agrees with Imran Khan that the peace talks should be transparent. He said that Rustam Shah Mohmand has been included in the committee on the recommendation of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to keep the dialogue process transparent.
The prime minister hoped the other party will initiate the process with good intention for the success of the dialogue process. He said that dialogue and terrorism cannot go together; therefore‚ the incidents of terrorism should come to end.
The premier further said that we offered dialogue to the militants but unfortunately the other side did not respond positively.
In addition, Nawaz Sharif said that the government has adopted clear stance against menace of terrorism, and doing its best for resolving the challenges being faced by the country.
Sharif said that we have taken all stakeholders on board to curb the terrorism. He said that peace is not our priority, it is our destination as it is responsibility of the state to maintain peace.
