Building consensus: Govt wins over PTI on counter-terror strategy

Imran assures Nawaz of support for military operation if launched as a last resort.

ISLAMABAD:

After months of disagreement, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday successfully managed to win over Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan for his government’s strategy to deal with the menace of militancy.

Imran Khan, who has been an avid supporter of dialogue, appreciated the government’s push for peace and said his party would support a military operation if launched as a last resort. The premier mustered Imran’s support at a meeting at the latter’s residence. The meeting was the first of its kind and the prime minister travelled without protocol.

After the hour-and-a-half long ‘serious’ and ‘friendly’ meeting, Imran said, “The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz government is the first in the last 12 years which is seriously working to establish peace.”

Officials said Imran had expressed the desire to meet the prime minister over the government’s peace initiative when he earlier met Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar. When the premier found out about the PTI chief’s desire, he instantly agreed.

“The talks are entering a resulted-oriented phase, therefore, we have to have a high level of understanding and consensus,” Nawaz said during the meeting. “Keeping aside all kinds of differences and divides, we will have to strive for achieving peace with full determination,” he added.

The prime minister said he was striving to establish peace without shedding a drop of blood. “For this purpose, we are taking forward the process of dialogue with full resolve and sincerity in light of decision taken by the all parties conference.”

Chaudhry Nisar led the delegation of high-profile officials that accompanied the prime minister, which also included PM Adviser Irfan Siddiqui and political secretary Dr Asif Kirmani.

The agenda of the meeting was to explore options and ensure that the political parties were on the same page regarding the use of military force only if the talks fail.

The meeting between the heads of the two political parties, which had won the highest and second-highest number of votes in the 2013 elections, was hailed as a positive development.

Officials said that Imran had particularly mentioned that the manifestos of both the parties were similar, as both wanted to resolve the issue of terrorism through dialogue.

During the meeting, Irfan Siddiqui gave a brief about the achievements of the first phase of talks, while the interior minister shared details about the newly formed committee with an assurance that the government would keep all stakeholders in the loop.

In addition, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Parvez Khattak gave an overview of the situation in the province.

The PTI chief commended the progress made by the peace committee, headed by Irfan Siddiqi, as it “achieved more than what was expected”.

Officials added that the PTI leadership agreed on the members of the new committee tasked to hold direct talks with the Taliban.

Addressing the media after the meeting, Imran said the government’s peace initiative has separated the Taliban factions willing to negotiate from those reluctant to renounce violence.

“This division is a great success,” he said, adding that the irreconcilable militant factions will be dealt with militarily. However, he urged the government to take care of the safety and security of the civilians living in the area in case of an operation.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 13^th, 2014.