PESHAWAR: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif Thursday said his government was sincere about holding peace talks with the Taliban, after Tehreek-e-Taliban(TTP)chief Hakimullah Mehsud complained no serious steps had been taken to open a dialogue.
Speaking after a security meeting in Peshawar, Sharif said progress was being made on the issue of opening negotiations.
His statement came a day after the broadcast of a BBC interview in which Mehsud said he was ready to sit down for talks but the government had "not taken any serious steps".
"The government is sincere about solving the issue of terrorism through talks with Taliban," Sharif told the meeting in Peshawar.
"We are seriously implementing the decision jointly taken by the All Parties' Conference (APC) for dialogue with Taliban."
But the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan(TTP), led by Mehsud since 2009, responded with a list of preconditions.
These included a government ceasefire and the withdrawal of troops from the tribal areas along the Afghan border.
Mehsud, who has a $5 million US government bounty on his head, told the BBC he would continue to target the United States and its allies, and that talks were dependent on an end to US drone strikes.
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