The announcement to initiate talks with Taliban comes a day after a suicide attack in Mardan that killed 35 people. PHOTO: FILE
PESHAWAR: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-led Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government announced on Wednesday the convention of an All Parties Conference in Peshawar in the coming days to chalk out a strategy to begin peace talks with the Pakistani Taliban.
The announcement comes a day after a suicide attack in Mardan that killed 35 people, including provincial MPA Imran Khan Mohmand, and injuring over 60 people.
Speaking to reporters at Lady Reading Hospital, PTI Deputy Parliamentary Leader in K-P and provincial Health and Information Minister, Shaukat Yousafzai, reiterated that the war on terror was not Pakistan’s war and dialogue, rather than force, was the solution to lasting peace in the region.
“If the Unites States has started negotiations with the Afghan Taliban in Qatar, despite the former fighting the latter for the last 12 years with their sophisticated weapons, and recognised that talks is the only solution, then we should also start talks to bring peace in our region,” Yousafzai said.
The health minister added that the K-P government would convene the APC in the coming days and political parties, members of the civil society, intellectuals and professors will be invited to chalk out a comprehensive strategy.
“When we agree on a one point agenda during our upcoming provincial APC, then a jirga will meet the federal government to inform them about our grievances and demands. The federal government needs to come into the front because PML-N has also promised restoration of peace during electioneering,” said the PTI leader.
He stated that PTI had planned before the general elections to review Pakistan’s foreign policy and the American drone programme if it came into power at the Centre. But since the party could only win in K-P, it now was the PML-N government’s jurisdiction to take practical steps to stop the violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty.
The deputy parliamentary leader in K-P opined that there was no guarantee of peace across the country if there was no harmony in K-P.
Replying to a question about the difficulties of starting any peace talks in the face of continuous drone strikes, Yousafzai said the federal government should not take any dictation from the US and avoid taking help from foreign countries in the shape of loans.
“How dare the US interfere in our internal affairs when we can directly tell them that we do not need their help. The time has come to make a clear policy so that the people can know what is going on in dealing with other countries,” he said.
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like the USA PTI is also hypocritical in its dos and says!
@Rizwan Khan,,,,, very well said... agree.....
No matter what is happening, this is the right move in right direction. This is the only way to draw a line between friends and foes, that is who are Pakistani and who are Indian backed miscreants.
@Shaami: Instead of narrating fiction, please define an alternative strategy for tackling this severe issue of terrorism (that is if you have one)??
we may carry on fighting but i think we need the solution to this wheather its political or by force!
I respect the views of all those who dont want to negotiate with Taliban and are cursing PTI for it. Some of their points are valid. But negotiation is always the 1st step and bullets the last. No one is saying the bow before Taliban and accept their all demands.
To negotiate means to solve the matter with words which non of the previous govt did. And we all know who and which countries are backing and is the mother of this org. Even then, we should always resolve it peacefully and if not, then we been fighting with them for more than 10 years now and killed thousands of our people. We can do it again but this time it would be a complete wipe out as we would geniunely want it (unlike previous dummy govts).
This was never our war but was imposed on us by Musharraf. Now that we are in it way above our head; we have to strategically come out of it.
With Afghan Taliban in government in Afghansitan, we can see a visible change in Pakistan and Afghanistan..Lets hope US-Taliban-Afghan talks succeed.
@jibran: So you want more blood shed !! What a National you are
These fools clamoring to copy the USA in holding peace talks with taliban somehow (amazingly) forget that the USA is NOT bargaining away ANY of its OWN TERRITORY! Whereas the ONLY THING that will appease the Pakistani Taliban is the state conceding political and military control to certain areas of Pakistan; their stated goal after all is rule of the entire land eventually. By what right do these politicians think they can participate in this treason against the state?
@Shaami: As someone who believes Imran is best politician, which is obviously not saying a lot since all politicians are scum, you hit the nail right on the head. PTI supporters are blind and have exhibited the same kind of veiled perspective that PPP supporters did with Bhutto, MQM supporters have done with Altaf and PMLN supporters have done with Sharif. And these are the so-called 'urban elite'. They use their brain as little as an uneducated man who knows no better!
The problem with Pakistan is that it always acts without understanding the nature of the problem and without looking for long term and short term effects. The nature of action and what will be the possible reactions. Pakistan really need to review its policies and must bring broad changes with long visionary and productive approach vs. non-visionary and short term befits. Their strategies to act both internally and externally must be different and according to the nature and diversity of the ground realities. Using force within boundaries is totally counterproductive and against the internal stability, growth and hormany. While external policies must be based on national interest without involvement in internal power politics and useless partnership games.
@Jibran.. What other we can do? If we brought them to justice as like as You Want. We have been Doing it already for 10 years. Now we have only one options that's PEACE through TALKS.
It serves living memory of all those people and pak Army killed in KPK very well to know that their deaths were in vain and now some civilians appointed by our glorious leader will be kissing dirty Taliban`s behinds once again.
We have used power and seen its consequences. Lets talk because after all USA is also heading towards it. Talk to them convince them to leave the war and then watch its results. If talk is not fruitful then again we can pick up the weapons. Army soldiers are also the sons of mothers and brothers of sister. Try to find the root cause of this non sense. Tehreek e Taliban Pakistan is not some ideological movement but just a reaction against the US occupation in Afghanistan.
Nice suggestion. Only problem is this: Taliban believe in force, not talks. Whereas political sissies of Pakistan are fooling themselves by beleiving in opposite.
Mashallah, I think this is the 3rd of 4th APC on the subject of talks. Proud of you PTI. I think by the 10th APC we will be close to some logical conclusion.
All I would like to say here is, had it been, god forbid, my relative who had been killed in this suicide blast, and outside the hospital I would have heard an MPA saying this is not their war and they would instead talk to the killers of my brother, I would have taken off my shoe and thrown it at his face.
I have met many PTI followers recently and it is very sad to announce that most of them have lost all the ability to rationalize anything and for them Imran Khan is the DemiGod and one follower went on to say that might be Imran Khan is the Imam Mehdi for the Muslim world. So based on these observations all PTI followers will be appreciating this decision because Imran Khan ( The New DemiGod of Pakistan ) have announced that but in my view it is a sheer stupidity and nothing else. Taliban will never recognize the democratic set up and they will only get more leverage to reorganize and to kill more soldiers and civilians in our country.
And this party calls itself "tehrik e insaaf". Will the murderers of my brothers and sisters be ever brought to justice. Seems like to this party, their blood is thicker than mine. And it will continue to protect the killers, easily trampling on the right to live of their innocent victims. Saddened by this type of justice.
Well Done PTI. Why not Pakistan if US Can??