Adviser to PM on Foreign Affairs and National Security Sartaj Aziz on Thursday said the government is ready to facilitate dialogue between Afghan government and Taliban. He said this during a briefing to Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs on the foreign policy of Pakistan with special reference to China, Russia, USA, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia and Iran.
Advisor informed the committee that the peace talks between new Afghanistan government and Taliban is expected in upcoming weeks. Due to the on-going war in Afghanistan, Sartaj Aziz said that it would be too early to say anything about peace dialogue. He hinted that next few weeks will be significant for peace talks, which may be conducted either at Qatar or Istanbul.
The adviser further said the expected dialogue must have some positive impact on the Taliban-led insurgency in Afghanistan, adding, not only the Taliban but many foreign fighters are still fighting in Afghanistan. Aziz confirmed that negotiations are going on with the Afghan authorities regarding the search and extradition of Taliban leader Mullah Fazlullah.
Foreign Secretary Aizaz Chaudhry informed the committee that there are no foot prints of IS in Pakistan, however, security agencies must be cognisant of the situation and take precautionary measures. He confirmed the agreement for peace talks between Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) and Afghanistan's intelligence agency National Directorate of Security (NDS) but said the agreement has yet to be ratified and confirmed by the Afghan government.
The agreement for talks comes only days after attack on Afghan parliament which was claimed by the Afghan Taliban. Farhatullah Babar said that lately President Ashraf Ghani appeared to be frustrated and losing hope with Pakistan. It is evident from his recent pronouncements and leak of his letter addressed to the civilian and military leadership of Pakistan outlining his deep concerns. The Taliban also had disowned the reconciliation talks he said. This could be either due to our inability or unwillingness to address the concerns of Ashraf Ghani about the Taliban militants or it might indicate that these Taliban had outgrown their mentors and were no longer in our control. He stressed the need for addressing the concerns of Afghan president.
The committee expressed some reservation over involvement of Indian consulates in Afghanistan for destabilising Pakistan. The Foreign Secretary also briefed the committee about talks with India and said that no progress has yet been made in this regard as India is ruling out the resumption of talks.
The committee met with Senator Nuzhat Sadiq in chair. Secretary Foreign Affairs also gave briefing on the meeting of the US-Pakistan Working Group on Security, Strategic Stability and Non-Proliferation (SSS& NP) held in Washington in the first week of June 2015. The foreign office also briefed the committee on the recommendations of the ministerial committee constituted on the issue of Rohingya Muslims of Myanmar. The committee also discussed issues related to stranded Pakistanis in Bangladesh and non-issuance of visa to Pakistani citizens by Kuwait.
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