The government has not yet granted amnesty to members of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
In an interview on Wednesday, National Security Adviser (NSA) Moeed Yusuf said that the state has not yet made the decision of granting amnesty to members of the TTP and stressed that the state was “very clear and sensitive” regarding the matter.
Yusuf explained that the government had decided to hold negotiations with the outfit as the TTP had been receiving backing from the intelligence of India as well as Afghanistan during the last 10 to 15 years.
The NSA said that Pakistan had continually informed the international community that the Pakistani Taliban had escaped to Afghanistan after the Zarb-i-Azb military operation, been provided sanctuary, and were launching attacks from the neighboring country.
He added, “The Afghan Taliban are not as antagonistic towards Pakistan as former president Ashraf Ghani”.
At present, the TTP has lost the support it had been receiving from Ghani’s government and India previously. Yusuf noted that the government is aware that previous agreements with the TTP had not been held and the PTI government was now gauging if the TTP was serious this time around.
Answering a question regarding the government granting amnesty to the members of the party, the NSA said, “I don’t know where this talk started from — that a decision has been made. There is no such decision [of a general amnesty].”
Discussing the need to hold talks with the TTP, he said that world history, as well as data and statistics, show that a significant majority of conflicts were resolved through dialogue. He added, “If you take the position to look at their past, then talks cannot be held. You have to fight till the end”.
Yusuf further defended the government regarding the controversial agreement it had reached with the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), and said that preventing bloodshed was the top priority of the government.
Asking questions regarding Afghanistan’s new rulers, the NSA said Pakistan did not have much control over the Afghan Taliban. He added that Afghanistan was an independent country and their government had its own mechanism of handling affairs.
The NSA warned the global community that a humanitarian crisis in neighboring Afghanistan would not only impact the Taliban but also hurt the common man, whom the US and the West want to rescue. He said, “The world must come to help Afghans beyond the rhetoric of the international community recognizing Afghanistan”.
