PTI says Centre's 'insistence on unilateral' counterterrorism measures main reason for talks failing

AI Summary

Pakistan’s PTI says negotiations with the federal government and PPP failed because the government insisted on unilateral counterterrorism measures in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. PTI and its allies called for provincial and political consultation, while Information Minister Attaullah Tarar accused the KP government of failing to act against terrorism.

The PTI on Sunday asserted that the main reason for the breakdown of talks with the Centre was the latter’s insistence on “unilateral” counter-terrorism measures in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The statement by PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja comes less than a day after hours-long negotiations between an opposition delegation comprising the PTI and Tehreek-i-Tahafuz-i-Ayin-i-Pakistan (TTAP) and a joint team of the government and PPP yielded no results. In a post on X, Raja wrote that the “primary reason for the failure of the talks around 3am this morning” was that the “PTI-TTAP team stood firm on its principled position that anti-terrorism actions in KPK would be based on agreement between the federal government and the KPK government”. He said the opposition want those actions to be “framed on the basis of consultation with, and the buy-in of, the different political parties represented” in the KP Assembly. “This was not acceptable to the government team, that insisted that all actions unilaterally initiated by it would have to be owned by the provincial government,” Raja asserted. “The PTI-TTAP team was clear that we have zero tolerance for terrorism and are committed to rooting it out. We also have a clear position against so-called collateral damage in the form of innocent lives and internal displacement of the local population.” Raja noted that counterterrorism policies require support from the local population and ground intelligence. “The wisdom provided by the jirga held in the KP assembly of all the political and tribal notables of the province, including the merged districts, must be heeded. “This was not acceptable to the federal government,” he wrote. In November last year, a peace jirga held at the KP Assembly, also attended by the governor, demanded that the Centre consult the KP government over Afghan policy. Tarar accuses KP govt of ‘supporting’ terrorism On the other hand, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar responded to Raja in a lengthy post on X, questioning why the KP government has not taken action against terrorism. “It is only now, when your KP government is politically weak, [that] you have started responding to the federal government’s calls for [a] joint mechanism to fight terrorism, that too only as a strategy to save your political capital in KP,” the minister alleged. “This is an old strategy of PTI, that when under pressure, they start talking of consultations and joint actions, but on [the] ground they do the exact opposite.” Accusing the KP government of “double standards and hypocrisy”, Tarar contended that while it said it was taking steps to fight terrorism, its “narrative on terrorism is in favour of terrorists”. “KPK government’s policy only encourages and supports [the] spread of terrorism in the province,” the PML-N leader alleged. Tarar questioned why the KP government had not taken steps against terrorism or convened the provincial apex committee for meetings and why it had not condemned the “TTA regime for sponsoring terrorism inside Pakistan and conduct of cross-border attacks on the posts and drone attacks by them”. “Why hasn’t the KPK Government not implemented NAP as per which clear action is required against illegal spectrum, illegal Afghan immigrants, measures for capacity enhancement of Police and [Counter-Terrorism Department]?” he added. He asked why PTI leaders did not visit checkposts of security forces and police to express their support, and whether they had taken interest in the governance and development of esrtwhile Fata. The minister urged the PTI to “stop selling this false narrative of collective consultations, jirgas or any other method, as this means nothing on [the] ground other than delaying tactics”. Tarar reiterated his comments in a televised video statement, slamming the PTI for failing to abandon “double standards and hypocrisy”, which he said resulted in deadly terrorist attacks in KP. “We were considering that they may go back on their word, and I had been saying it for the past two and a half weeks: if we are going to talk, then who should we talk to? And if we talk, what guarantee do we have that they will honour their word?” the minister asked. He accused the PTI of taking U-turns and “expressing pride in them”, as well as failing to maintain a steady stance on the issue of protecting the lives and property of KP’s residents. “Now different statements are emerging: Salman Akram Raja is saying one thing; [Adviser to KP Chief Minister on Information] Shafi Jan is saying that they want to change the policy on terrorism,” he added. “What is your policy? Does it even exist?” Tarar alleged: “The only policy you have is deliberately supporting terrorism. Your policy is how you can elevate terrorists, how you can build a political terror-crime nexus and how you can spread terrorism across the province. “I said earlier that you have to decide whether you stand with Pakistan or Afgh