ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan welcomed on Sunday the announcement of a negotiating team by Taliban, but at the same time indicated that there were hurdles which needed to be removed before peace talks could be started.

“The announcement of a negotiators’ committee from the other side is a positive development. However, there are still some issues which require explanation. As soon as a decision is made, the process of negotiations will immediately begin,” he said in a statement.

The minister said the situation would be discussed at a meeting to be held on return of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to Islamabad from Raiwind on Monday morning.

“The government will announce its final strategy and way forward after consultations,” he added.

Political experts are of the opinion that Monday will be a crucial day for the future of peace process with the Taliban as leaders of the PTI and the JUI-Fazl will also be meeting separately to devise their plans after nomination of the parties’ chiefs Imran Khan and Maulana Fazlur Rehman by the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) as members of its negotiating team.

Imran Khan distanced himself from the Taliban and asked the latter to nominate their own representative. He expressed full confidence in the four-member government team and said the party’s strategy would be chalked out at the meeting of its core committee.

Maulana Fazl, chief of his own faction of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam, has convened a meeting of his party’s Majlis-i-Shura in Islamabad to review the situation after the nomination of committees by both sides.

JUI-F spokesman Jan Achakzai told Dawn that being part of the ruling coalition his party fully supported the government’s initiative for peace.

But, he said, the JUI-F leaders wanted the government to dispel a perception in some segments of the society that it did not have the backing of all the state institutions for its peace initiative.

“The government should categorically state that all the institutions are on board with it,” he said in an apparent reference to discussions in media and political circles that the army was not pleased by the prime minister’s latest initiative to name official negotiators.

The interior minister said the committee nominated by the government had been given the full mandate and authority to hold dialogue with the Taliban.

“However, it still needs to be explained what is the mandate and powers of the committee formed by the other side and how far they would follow the decisions of their own committee,” he said.

“It is a matter of great satisfaction that both sides have announced their negotiating teams after many years and this shows that both sides want to make peace through negotiations and dialogue,” he said.

Chaudhry Nisar thanked Ulema for raising their voice for peace and brotherhood in the region and said the government would continue to seek their guidance.

“I acknowledge the role of Ulema for evolving consensus between both sides for peace in the region and ending the bloodshed that has been going on for years,” he said.

The minister appealed to religious scholars from all schools of thought to unite and guide the government at this critical stage for the country.

He said it was a complex process and political as well as religious leaders would have to play their role to make the peace process successful.

Prime Minister’s Adviser Irfan Siddiqui, who is coordinator of the government team, also welcomed the announcement of the committee by the Taliban, saying they were waiting for a green signal from the militants so that a serious dialogue process might begin without any delay.