therefore, was more interested in the Afghan affairs.
Ahmed Rashid said the Afghan Taliban and the Pakistan Taliban were generically different because the Afghan Taliban owned their country, whereas the Pakistani Taliban were against the very country and the nation they lived in. “This,” he said, “by no means is glorification of either type of Taliban.”
He was of the view that success of “these negotiations will have unprecedented effects on overall regional politics.”He believed that “the very happening of these negotiations will deter the spirits of Pakistani Taliban and their success would demoralise them extremely.”
On the occasion, Aziz said Pakistan’s position regarding Taliban had shifted after the Peshawar massacre and “there is now zero tolerance for any clan, any creed and any form of Taliban or extremism in the country.”However, his statement was questioned by a person in the audience as to why there has been no crackdown against certain banned outfits.
He said Mullah Umar still occupied a pivotal position and was a father figure for all Taliban factions, adding that “there is a high likelihood of him still being alive and enjoying top commanding position.”
He commented that China, of all the countries, did not shun the Taliban or dub them with absolute tags; therefore, China too could play a vital role in dialogue. He proposed that the Afghan government should use the opportunity as the means to understand and address the grievance of these groups, saying they were native Afghans and would also want to become a part of the mainstream.
Doucet moderated the session brilliantly asking the right questions and keeping the discussion on track. At the end of the session, she conducted an open poll through show of hands by the audience as to whether they think that the recent progress will translate into something substantial, to which the majority replied in yes.