The banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan has said that it would not rule out a ceasefire if Pakistan’s new government ‘shows seriousness’ about its offer of holding a dialogue.
Taliban spokesman Ihsanullah Ihsan said his group would come up with a positive response if the incoming government formed by the PML-N, which won the 11 May polls, takes the offer of talks seriously. The group had proposed a ‘conditional dialogue’ to the previous government led by the Pakistan People’s Party in February but withdrew the offer after it did not receive a ‘positive’ response.
‘If they (the new government) take our dialogue offer seriously and makes some progress, then we could also stop attacks,’ Ihsan said by phone. The incoming Prime Minister, PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif, said this week that the Taliban’s offer for dialogue would be taken seriously. ‘We have seen Nawaz Sharif’s reported remarks and respect his statement about our dialogue offer,’ he said.
Taliban spokesman Ihsanullah Ihsan said his group would come up with a positive response if the incoming government formed by the PML-N, which won the 11 May polls, takes the offer of talks seriously. The group had proposed a ‘conditional dialogue’ to the previous government led by the Pakistan People’s Party in February but withdrew the offer after it did not receive a ‘positive’ response.
‘If they (the new government) take our dialogue offer seriously and makes some progress, then we could also stop attacks,’ Ihsan said by phone. The incoming Prime Minister, PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif, said this week that the Taliban’s offer for dialogue would be taken seriously. ‘We have seen Nawaz Sharif’s reported remarks and respect his statement about our dialogue offer,’ he said.