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Wednesday, September 11, 2013
Khurshid Shah for result-oriented dialogue with Taliban
ISLAMABAD: National Assembly Opposition Leader Syed Khurshid Ahmed Shah on Tuesday said the government should hold result-oriented dialogues with the Taliban to curb terrorism and restore peace in the country.
Talking to journalists, Khurshid Shah said, “There are two types of Taliban: Afghans and Pakistanis. It is easy to negotiate with the Afghan Taliban as compared to the Pakistanis, because there are around 59 groups operating in the country.”
He said the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) government had brought Sufi Muhammad to the negotiating table 13 times, but all efforts went in vain as many agreements reached in the talks were not adhered to by the Taliban.
Khurshid Shah urged the government to devise a mechanism to check the growth of madrassas in the country.
“The government will have to take strict decisions to improve the law and order situation in the country. The PPP will support the government in this regard as it has backed the government’s stance at the recently-held All Parties Conference (APC),” he added.
The opposition leader signalled that the matter of appointing the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairman was in process and would be sorted out by September 16 with mutual understanding.
He did not disclose the names of the aspirants for the position, given to the government by the opposition.
Meanwhile, Indian High Commissioner TCA Raghvan paid a courtesy call upon the opposition leader in his chamber at the Parliament House.
In the meeting, Khurshid Shah said India had to avoid escalation along the Line of Control (LoC) to build a smooth relation with Pakistan.
Khurshid Shah was of the opinion that Pakistan and India had a long history together. “Instead of meeting in United Nations Organisation (UNO) or Washington D.C, we have to meet in Islamabad and New Dehli for removing our differences,” he added. agenciesCourtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk