Pak minister says peace talks will not be allowed to drag on

Talking to senior journalists in Lahore, the minister said peace talks would be concluded soon and no one would be allowed to drag them for too long.

Rashid denied that any ‘super-committee’, comprising the prime minister, interior minister and an adviser, was functioning to hold talks with the Taleban.

He said Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan was the focal person of the dialogue process. He explained that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif himself was given briefings on the progress of the government committee on dialogue with the Taleban, which were also attended by the defence minister.

Regarding terrorist attacks by the militant outfits despite the ongoing talks, the minister said the pro-dialogue Taleban had disowned those acts of terrorism. “Let the dialogue with the Taleban be completed,” he said, and added that the government would act firmly against those who did not opt for talks and peace.

Responding to a question, he said: “No scandal of the present government has surfaced during its first year. Unlike the past regime there are no mega corruption scandals like rental power plants, National Insurance Company Limited (NICL), Pakistan Steel Mills, Bank of Punjab and Employees Old Age Benefits Institution (EOBI).”

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