Stalled talks

The proposed talks with the Taliban were in many ways a non-starter in the first place.

As many had predicted when there was the news of the drone strike and the resultant death of Taliban deputy chief Waliur Rehman, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan have withdrawn their offer for talks. This brings to a halt the ongoing conjecture about negotiations and the pros and cons of this approach.

The fact also is that the proposed talks were in many ways a non-starter in the first place. Only the most fortunate, indeed miraculous, combination of factors could have got them off the ground. In the first place, the man approached by the incoming government to act as mediator, Maulana Samiul Haq, has stated he actually had no idea of whom to contact or where to go. The Taliban remain a shadowy entity, with confusion over their location. It is also rumoured that the group may have factionalised, adding to the complications in engaging them in talks.



It is also quite obvious the US, meanwhile, will be continuing its drone programme. President Barack Obama has spelled this out quite clearly in a recent speech, stating that drones would be used more carefully and directed towards specific targets to avoid civilian casualties but would not stop. It will be next to impossible for Islamabad to persuade Washington to change its mind on this, at least, until the withdrawal of its troops from Afghanistan in 2014. The policy has been laid out in black and white and this factor makes talks with the Taliban even less likely.

In this context, we must also, in the strongest possible terms, advise the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader, Imran Khan, that his suggestion that drones be shot down — using aircraft that came our way from the US — is inherently unwise. Realistically speaking, much as we value our sovereignty, this would be a disaster. The far wiser approach would be to continue a campaign against drones on the international stage, build opposition to their use in the US as well and use this as a means to build pressure against drones so that the invasion of our territory can finally stop. There are really no other options available to us.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 1^st, 2013.                                                                                          

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