ISLAMABAD - Speakers at a consultation on Friday urged that both Pakistan and Afghanistan should start fresh negotiations to break the ongoing deadlock on the issue of hideouts of banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in the latter and cross-border terrorism. Senior journalist Haroon Rashid taking part in the discussion said that the issue of TTP was the basic impediment in bilateral relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan. “First of all, there is a need to understand the ideological basis of the Afghan Taliban and the TTP,” said Ameer Jamaat-e-Islami Balochistan Maulana Abdul Haq Hashmi. Afghanistan-based journalist Sami Yousafzai argued that Islamabad should not be harsh on Kabul over the issue of the presence of TTP militants in Afghanistan. She added that Islamabad should make the Taliban understand to provide at least online facilities of education to Afghan women.

Source: The Nation August 12, 2023 13:39 UTC