Pakistan's Nawaz Sharif calls Taliban for peace talks

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Islamabad: Pakistan's presumptive prime minister Nawaz Sharif called for peace talks with Taliban militants at war with the government Monday, potentially charting a course that could put him at odds with the country's powerful army.

Nawaz Sharif said "terrorism" was one of the most serious problems plaguing the country and any offer by the Pakistani Taliban to talk "should be taken seriously."

"All options should be tried, and guns are not a solution to all problems," Sharif said in a speech to newly elected members of his party in the eastern city of Lahore. "Why shouldn't we sit and talk, engage in dialogue?"


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Pakistan's Nawaz Sharif calls Taliban for peace talks | NDTV.com

 

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LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif in his pre-parliamentary address in Lahore on Monday said that if there was an option to talk to the Taliban with the hope of making the country peaceful, they should take it.

"We have never bad-mouthed anyone in our election campaign," Sharif said in a slight to his opponents, Express News reported. "We accepted everyone's mandate."

"We will help the provincial governments in whatever way, but then there should be an end to the ongoing violence," the prime minister-elect said.

Nawaz said holding negotiations is the only way to effectively solve problems.

"We have lost several lives, our economy is deteriorating"¦ If Taliban offers us an option to have dialogue, we should take it seriously. Why can't we talk to the Taliban to make our country peaceful?"

Working on common agenda

He said that affairs of the country should be given precedence over politics.

"All political parties need to work on one common agenda for the betterment of the country and this is what I reiterated when I went to Shaukat Khanum Hospital (to visit Imran Khan)," he added.

PML-N won the highest number of National Assembly seats in the general elections that took place in the country on May 11, establishing a simple majority in the centre. Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) who won in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa in the elections has formed its own government in the province.

No harm in talking to Taliban: Nawaz Sharif – The Express Tribune