Pakistan should handover militants to Afghanistan in bid to revive peace talks: Senate panel

Statement comes a day after Afghan president urged Islamabad to place Taliban leaders under house arrest

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan should handover members of the Afghan Taliban and Haqqani network to Kabul in an effort to help strike a peace deal in the war-ravaged country, the chairman of National Assembly Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs upheld on Monday.

"We should not have any problem in handing over the Afghan Taliban or members of Haqqani network to Afghanistan if this helps the reconciliation process," Awais Ahmed Khan Laghari told reporters.

However, Laghari clarified he had no information whether any Afghan Taliban commanders were in Pakistan's custody.

"If they are in Pakistan, we must hand them over to Kabul because the objective of both the countries is to bring peace," the chairman emphasised.

Laghari’s statement comes a day after Afghan President Ashraf Ghani sought a tough action from Pakistan against the insurgent group, which in recent weeks intensified its spring offensive in the war-torn country.

In a letter written to the Pakistani leadership, Ghani urged Islamabad to place Taliban leaders in Quetta and Peshawar under house arrest and detain members of Taliban-allied Haqqani network.

Read: Afghan president urges Pakistan to take action against militants

Pakistan has always denied it is sheltering any Taliban commanders.

Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have shown improvement since unity government formed in Kabul.

However, the committee’s chairman cautioned that a lot still needs to be done to bridge the trust gap between the two countries.

‘Condemns double standards of the west’

Further, the chairman of the foreign relations committee strongly condemned a recent statement given by the Indian defence minister that his country would neutralise terrorists through terrorists.

"Had this statement been made by any Pakistani official, the international community particularly the west would have already moved the UN Security Council," he said, criticising the role of powerful countries for condoning such anti-Pakistan remarks by Indian ministers.

Read: PM Nawaz takes aim at Indian leadership, vows to control any anti-Pakistan act

Further, the chairman admitted that there were little prospects of peace with India during the tenure of Narendra Modi.