ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has said that there is no need for establishing an office for peace talks with the Taliban as militants reside in the country and talks could be held with them anywhere.
Talking to media persons, Prime Minister’s Advisor on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz said that the issue of Afghan Taliban was different from Pakistani militants.
“Militants name their representative and decide when and where to meet, you may consider venue of talks as your office,” Aziz said, adding that there were various places, where meetings could be held for peace talks.
Aziz also expressed sorrow over Peshawar blast and said the city was an easy target of extremists as it was located near volatile tribal region.
It is pertinent to mention that Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan had stated that it was imperative to have a political office for the Taliban where peace talks between the government and the Taliban could be held. He insisted that the absence of such an office would hinder negotiations, assisting in the continuation of the decade-long war against terror.
The PTI chief also referred to the Afghan Taliban office in Qatar officiated by the United States government to facilitate the dialogue process some months prior, stressing that the government should take negotiations seriously.
However, later PTI’s Asad Umar said in a conference that party chief Imran Khan’s recent statement on Pakistani Taliban was not an official PTI policy statement. He said that the statement only reflected the personal views of the PTI leader.
