Nawaz Sharif says talks with Taliban have started

Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif, Thursday said talks with the Taliban militants have started to stop killing of more people and security officials.

Mr Sharif offered comments in his meeting with British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg in London, the PM office in Islamabad said.

“The Prime Minister informed that the dialogue with the Taliban has started,” the statement from the PM office said.

Mr Sharif said that he hoped and prayed the dialogue works within the Constitutional framework of Pakistan.

The statement quoted the Prime Minister as saying that his government could not wait and see the innocent people and members of law enforcement agencies being killed in the streets of Pakistan.

The government opted for the talks weeks after a parliamentary conference called upon the government to initiate talks with the Taliban to find out a political solution to the problem of terrorism and violent extremism.

Opposition parties had been critical at the government for delay in the Taliban talks in view of series of deadly attacks over the past two months that had killed nearly 200 people only in the northwestern city of Peshawar.

Nawaz Sharif said the government was making its counter-terrorism forces and intelligence agencies fully capable to root out extremism and terrorism from Pakistan.

“The enhancement of the capacity of the counter-terrorism forces was a part of different options to deal with extremism and terrorism,” he elaborated.

The Prime Minister also briefed Mr Clegg on the recently promulgated Protection of Pakistan Ordinance and said that it was specifically prepared to deal with those terrorists who were waging war against the people and the state of Pakistan.

On Pakistan-India relations, the Prime Minister said that he had made sincere efforts to resolve all outstanding issues with India. “We have made India bashing a non-issue in Pakistan but unfortunately Indian politicians are still engaged in unwarranted Pakistan bashing”, he said.

Deputy Prime Minister Mr Clegg told Prime Minister Sharif that he and his government was full of admiration for his pro-active approach of reaching out to India before and after elections.

He assured that the UK would fully support Pakistan’s case for GSP Plus in the EU market. Mr Clegg also appreciated recently introduced economic reforms agenda by the Pakistan government.