Parliament’s Security Committee to be briefed on talks with TTP

ISLAMABAD: The Parliamentary Committee on National Security will be briefed on progress in talks between the government and banned-outfit Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in a meeting at the PM’s House on Wednesday afternoon.

The Parliamentary Committee on National Security (PCNS) would meet at the PM’s House on Wednesday (today) at 3pm to discuss the progress in talks with the Taliban and issues related to the national security. 

Chief of the Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa and Director General ISI Lt. General Nadeem Ahmed Anjum will also attend the meeting. The sources said the DG ISI will brief the senior parliamentarians on the talks between the government and Taliban.

Speaker National Assembly Raja Pervaiz Ashraf will head the PCNS, which according to the NA’s official website also includes Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and parliamentary leaders of other parties, having representations in both Houses.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had become a member of the PCNS, when he was the leader of the opposition in the National Assembly. However, it is not confirmed whether the new opposition leader Raja Riaz Ahmad Khan has been invited to the meeting.

The PPP’s leadership had demanded that elected representatives should also be taken on board. Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari had tweeted that they would also approach the allied parties on the issue. Federal Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb, on behalf of the government, had confirmed in the first week of June that the talks with the TTP were in progress at the government level.

She said the talks with the TTP had begun in 2021 and those negotiations had been taking place at the government level. The minister also confirmed that the Afghan Taliban government was acting as a mediator between the two parties. She said the civil and military representatives were part of the Pakistani side holding talks with the TTP, adding that the government appreciated the ceasefire announced by the TTP. Only two days back, the spokesman of Afghan Taliban Zabihullah Mujahid said that the talks between Pakistan and the TTP had concluded.