March 02 , 2016
News
Pakistan can’t negotiate with Taliban on Afghan govt’s behalf: adviser
Sartaj says Pakistan has some influence on militia
WASHINGTON – Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz said that Pakistan has some influence and the government can pressurise Taliban to come to the negotiating table but it can't negotiate on behalf of the Afghan government.Because, “we can't offer them (Taliban) what the Afghan government can offer them,” he said while speaking at an event organised by the Council on Foreign Relations here. Sartaj said that the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had taken action to deal with the problems of extremism and terrorism which has claimed lives of over 60,000 people, and inflicted economic losses of $100 billion.
About the terrorist groups, he said there were certain groups like the Haqqani Network whose remnants were still supposed to be scattered around and they were threatening Afghanistan and forces there. On Pakistan's part, he said the government has stated taking actions against these terrorist groups one by one as simultaneous actions were not possible because of the capacity and the fear of the blowback.
In this case, their infrastructure in North Waziristan has been destroyed, however some scattered groups, some remnants may still be around but the bulk the capacity of these groups is within the Afghanistan, he added. He also said the roadmap drawn by the Quadrilateral Group required to invite all groups for talks, but action can be taken against those who refused to attend.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk