ISLAMABAD: In a rare show of political maturity and harmony, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif went to the residence of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Wednesday and took him into confidence on peace talks with the Taliban.

Following the meeting, the government formed its new committee to hold what it called direct and result-oriented talks with the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

Mr Khan, who heads the second largest opposition party in the National Assembly and is one of the biggest critics of the PML-N government, termed the meeting successful and praised the government’s decision to give ‘peace one more chance’.

Soon after the meeting, Taliban negotiators, led by Maulana Samiul Haq, called on Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan and expressed satisfaction over the formation of the new government team.

Although the government did not officially announce the names of the committee, the prime minister’s adviser Irfan Siddiqui, who also attended the meeting, told Dawn that the new team would be headed by Ports and Shipping Secretary Habibullah Khattak. Its other three members are: Additional Secretary at the Prime Minister’s Office on law and order and prime minister’s confidant Fawad Hassan Fawad, Additional Secretary of Federally Administered Tribal Areas Arbab Arif and former ambassador and PTI leader Rustam Shah Mohmand, who was also a member of the now defunct government committee.

Chaudhry Nisar had revealed the names of the new committee at the meeting with the PTI chief, Mr Siddiqui said.

Interestingly, Prime Minister Sharif, accompanied by Chaudhry Nisar, Irfan Siddiqui and his political secretary Dr Asif Kirmani, visited Mr Khan’s residence on a hill in Banigala without any official protocol and security.

He reached there in a private silver-coloured car driven by the interior minister. His security/protocol team reached the venue after almost half an hour. The prime minister was received by Mr Khan and his party leaders, including Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Jehangir Tareen.

According to the sources, the prime minister alighted from the car, held Mr Khan’s hands and said: “You desired a consultation and I have personally come to you.”

Clad in a white Shalwar-Qameez and dark blue waistcoat, the prime minister praised the architecture of Mr Khan’s house and scenic beauty around it.

The meeting lasted about 90 minutes in a cordial atmosphere.

According to an official handout, Prime Minister Sharif said eradication of terrorism and restoration of peace were a collective responsibility which required harmony between the nation and the political leadership.

He said it was his desire to reach the goal of peace without shedding even a single drop of blood, adding that his government was determined to seriously pursue the peace process in the light of the decision taken at an all-party conference in September last year.

He said that despite all odds, the committees of both sides had achieved in one month what could not be done in years. “We are entering a more result-oriented phase of dialogue and, therefore, we need more harmony than ever before.”

The interior minister briefed the PTI leaders on the second phase of talks and assured them that all political parties would be kept informed throughout the process.

IMRAN PRAISES NAWAZ: Talking to reporters after the meeting, Imran Khan praised the prime minister and the interior minister for their efforts to bring Taliban to the negotiating table and said the government had split Taliban into two groups — one wanting peace and the other rejecting peace process.

“It is clear now that the bigger group of Taliban wants to hold dialogue with the government and the second, which is quite smaller, wants to disrupt the peace process,” he said.

He said those Taliban who did not want peace could be dealt with iron hands and the armed forces were capable enough to crush them. But he rejected the option of war and feared that more than 700,000 people in North Waziristan, including children, women and the elderly, would be vulnerable to mass killings in case of war.

The PTI chief used the term ‘structured’ dialogue and expressed the hope that it would be result-oriented and would bring permanent peace to the country where more than 50,000 people had lost their lives in terrorism-related incidents since 2001 and caused losses of over $70 billion.

Irfan Siddiqui explained that ‘structured’ dialogue meant a mechanism under which the government would hold direct talks with Taliban. “The new committee has three serving government officials and there is more direct involvement of the government in the dialogue process,” he said.

Imran Khan said the government had accepted one of his demands and assured him that it would include a condition, during talks with Taliban, that militants would not target polio teams in tribal areas. “I am thankful to the prime minister for endorsing our demand,” he added.

VISIT TO WAZIRISTAN: The TTP negotiators would visit North Waziristan on Thursday (today) to meet the Taliban leadership and decide time and venue for talks with the new government committee.

This was decided at a meeting of the Taliban committee with Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar in Islamabad on Wednesday.

The meeting reviewed progress on the peace process made so far and discussed a future course of action. It was decided that the government team would leave for North Waziristan soon after the venue and time were decided.

The interior minister expressed the government’s desire to seriously pursue the dialogue process and said it would welcome those treading the path of peace, but would forcefully act against those attempting to sabotage the process.

Members of the TTP committee who called on the interior minister included Maulana Samiul Haq, Professor Ibrahim and Maulana Yousuf.

Maulana Sami praised the government’s efforts for peace, but said the talks should not be delayed. An early round of talks would block the way of enemies of the peace process, he said.

During a meeting with the TTP negotiators on March 6, Prime Minister Sharif had asked them to convey to the Taliban leadership his concern over the recent terrorist attacks by TTP’s splinter groups despite a ceasefire. He also wondered why Taliban did not condemn such attacks.

The incidents of terrorism include the killing of 23 detained Frontier Corps personnel by militants in Afghanistan and a bomb-and-gun attack on Islamabad district courts last week which claimed the lives of 12 people, including a district and session judge and three lawyers.