Islamabad: Pakistan’s backdoor contacts with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), an umbrella organisation of several Pakistani terrorist groups, could possibly pave the way for a ceasefire and direct talks between the two sides in coming weeks. Despite Kabul’s complete silence over the TTP issue, well-placed sources revealed that the Taliban government has been playing a role to bring Islamabad and TTP back on table. “Pakistani authorities have been engaged with the TTP through backdoor contacts. If these contacts culminate into broader talks, then Kabul and Islamabad would involve political and tribal elders from both sides of the border to address the issue,” said a Pakistani official familiar with the backdoor exchanges.
The previous talks between Islamabad and the TTP had collapsed due to the conflicting positions of the two sides. Lack of political ownership in Pakistan of the move to initiate talks with the terrorists has also been described as one of the reasons for the deadlock. “The previous talks were announced by PM Imran Khan in an interview with foreign media. The issue was neither brought into parliament nor taken up by his government at any level, indicating that only security and intelligence officials were involved in it,” said Ali Akbar Khan, a Peshawar-based journalist. He said that no issue can be resolved without the involvement of tribal elders in regions along the Pak-Afghan border.
“The tribal elders along the Durand Line have been addressing issues and disputes through a tribal system for decades. Without their involvement, talks cannot succeed between the TTP and Pakistan,” Khan said, adding, the support of the local tribal people to the Taliban was one of the reasons for the collapse of the previous Afghan regime.
