Pakistan rules out any talks with outlawed TTP
Responding to the ‘suggestion’ of a senior Afghan Taliban leader for peace talks with TTP, Pakistan’s Foreign Office (FO) ruled out any talks with the outlawed militant group.
Responding to the queries of media persons at her weekly news briefing in Islamabad on Thursday regarding the suggestion made by an Afghan Minister for talks between Pakistan and TTP, Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said Pakistan expects the Afghan authorities to take urgent action against the terrorist outfits and their leadership for the crimes they are committing and terrorist incidents they are responsible for in Pakistan.
On Wednesday, Muhammad Nabi Omari, deputy interior minister of the interim Taliban government in Afghanistan, made the remarks at an Iftar gathering in the southeastern Khost town.
“We ask the government of Pakistan and advise the brothers (TTP) who are fighting with them to come together and talk,” he said. The deputy interior minister, however, did not address the presence of TTP in Afghanistan.
The Afghan Taliban have been privately urging Pakistan and the TTP to engage in direct negotiations to end over a two-decadelong conflict that has claimed thousands of lives and seen massive displacement of people in the tribal region straddling Afghanistan.
Talking to the media, the FO spokesperson said Pakistan remained committed to fighting against all the terrorist outfits which have targeted Pakistan and the symbols of Pakistan-china friendship.
She said that following the security audit and enhancement of security measures, the Chinese projects in Pakistan are fully functional.
Earlier during her briefing, Baloch said that Afghanistan was discussed at the 19th regular meeting of the secretaries of the security councils of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) held in Kazakhstan on April 3.
Secretary of the National Security Division, Waqar Ahmad, who led the Pakistan delegation at the SCO, warned about the “far-reaching consequences about terrorists acts for the entire region and stressed the need for adopting a comprehensive approach to address the root causes,” Baloch said.
“He termed peaceful and stable Afghanistan a strategic imperative for regional prosperity and called upon SCO member states to follow a holistic policy and build broad convergences with SCO region to address multifaceted challenges confronting Afghanistan,” Baloch said.
The FO spokesperson vehemently condemned the terrorist attack in Iran.
Expressing solidarity with the Iranian people, she said Pakistan would like to work with Iran to find joint solutions to terrorism. When asked about the Palestinians’ fresh bid for the UN membership, Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said Pakistan recognizes the state of Palestine and will support any such move at the UN.
Condemning the ongoing Israeli atrocities in Gaza, she called for international accountability of Israel for its crimes against humanity.
Expressing concerns over the Indian occupation authorities’ decision to deny permission to hold Eidul Fitr prayers at Eidgah in Srinagar, she urged the Indian authorities to respect the rights of the people of IIOJK to peaceful assembly and to freely practice their religion. She said Pakistan will continue to extend moral, political and diplomatic support to the Kashmiri people for the just and peaceful settlement of Jammu and