Khursheed Shah opposes army's role in negotiations

E-Paper | March 13, 2026

ISLAMABAD: Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Syed Khursheed Shah said on Wednesday that the government should itself mediate the peace talks with militants and the army should not be made part of the process, DawnNews reported.

Talking to media representatives the senior leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) said that including the Pakistan Army in the dialogue process with militants was dangerous adding that the role of the armed forces was neither to hold negotiations nor make deals.

He demanded the government to hold talks on its own without involving the army.

The opposition leader also said that he had no objections to any person's involvement in the peace talks as long as they were not serving personnel of the armed forces.

He was of the view that no serving personnel should be involved in the talks though retired personnel could be included in the process.

Expressing the sensitivity of the situation, Shah said that a dangerous scenario would emerge in case the talks failed.

Answering a question over the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), Shah said he had not discussed the matter with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif yet.

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Khanm

Mar 05, 2014 04:35pm

opposes army role!!!! Khursheed Shah are you new in Pakistan politics..no one can resist the invasion of an Pakistani army... They are the one who dictates term and the condition...

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muzammil ullah khan

Mar 05, 2014 05:40pm

I agree with Khurshid Shah but in a different perspective . This is a trick by the Nawaz Govt to try to involve the Army in fruitless and futile "mazaakrat" ! It is nothing but a ruse to put the blame on the Army as and when the talks fail , which eventually will fail . Pretty cunning move .

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muzammil ullah khan

Mar 05, 2014 05:46pm

@Khanm: You seem to forget that Nawaz is trying his best to shift responsibility to others because he is incapable of taking a decision . You may see an interesting scenario at the end of this year when Nawaz Sharif will collect the money that he would have raked as a result of the privatization scam and will migrate to UK with his family to live happily ever after and we the poor Pakistanis would be left at the mercy of the evil Taliban to be mauled at will . People like you will keep blaming the Armed Forces . What an irony !

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Rex Minor

Mar 05, 2014 06:26pm

@Khanm: Absolutely correct. Pakistan citizenry are not yet aware that they are now being ruled by the civil /military alliance Government on a cohibition basis. The military rule has been introduced in garrison cities without the approval of NA. Rex Minor

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khanm

Mar 05, 2014 06:49pm

@muzammil ullah khan: you got a point. one has to see things subjectively and objectively... In Pakistan we deal with dirty politics...,

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Mar 05, 2014 08:14pm

Army must be included in this process. They have suffer heavy losses from these terrorist. They have a great role to play in the security of this country. Politicians are short sighted and mostly concerned to their own gains. They can't be trusted.

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Usman Khan

Mar 05, 2014 08:17pm

While I agree in principle that military should not be involved in the decision making process, and civilians should own the process, Nawaz Sharif seems to be pushing on the responsibility of taking the tough military strike decision on the military. Maybe this will produce some concrete results instead of decisions and keeping those sham 'Muzakarat' alive

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muzammil ullah khan

Mar 05, 2014 11:34pm

I agree with Shah Sahib . Nawaz just wants to shift the responsibility to the Army and ultimately blame them when the dialogue fails . Simple logic .

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