ISLAMABAD: National Security Committee (NSC) today brief the Parliamentarians on national security issues.
Speaker National Assembly Asad Qaiser chaired the meeting while Leader of the Opposition Shehbaz Sharif, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Chairman Pakistan Peoples Party Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Maulana Asad Mehmood from JUI-F were among the important participants.
Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Director-General Lieutenant General Faiz Hameed were also present in the briefing.
Nothing was shared with the media regarding the briefing of the National Security Committee, headed by Prime Minister Imran Khan.
Earlier, it was reported that days before the Afghan Taliban were at the gates of Kabul, Pakistan was already in talks with the government-in-waiting to deal with terrorist outfits such as banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Baloch groups which have been for years operating out of the neighbouring country.
Pakistani officials in their interactions with the Taliban leadership made a clear demand that all these groups must not only be denied space to operate but also sought military action against them.
After the Taliban captured Kabul on August 15, Pakistan shared a list of most-wanted terrorists seeking their extradition.
The Taliban leadership came up with a proposal, offering Pakistan their good offices to initiate talks with the TTP and its affiliates. But at the same time, the interim Taliban government promised military action against those groups, which were not willing to reconcile, according to sources familiar with the development.
It was because of this reason that Pakistan initiated talks with the TTP. The two sides reportedly held at least three face-to-face meetings. One was held in Kabul while the other two took place in Khost.
The chief of the Haqqani network, Sirajuddin Haqqani, is thought to have played the role of mediator. Although there was no official confirmation, reports suggested that the TTP agreed to announce a month-long ceasefire in return for Pakistan releasing dozens of terrorist group’s prisoners.
