Terrorism has its roots in the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. That is when the Americans trained Mujahideen. The US funded and armed them. They did a remarkable job of defeating a superpower. The US departure from Afghanistan will create an enabling environment. But at that time in Pakistan, there must be a strong government, which one can hope now that Nawaz Sharif will provide, with the army and other stakeholders coming onboard on developing a common strategy.
The strategy obviously has to be a multi-pronged approach to this issue. First of all, the government has to prescribe the ground rules. The government should not talk to anybody who does not accept its constitution, judiciary and parliament. So the writ of the state has to be accepted. Those who do not accept the writ of the state, should be dealt with militarily; and those who accept it can come to the negotiation table. Hopefully the new government has a good chance to do this.