– PM says govt negotiators will reach North Waziristan for talks Tuesday
– Says India hesitated whenever Pakistan approached it for talks over Kashmir
– Kerry says US has great confidence in safety of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said on Monday that the government team will hold direct talks with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan in North Waziristan on Tuesday (today).
Speaking to reporters after holding a meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry on the sidelines of a two-day nuclear summit, Nawaz said the government was holding talks with sincerity and the government committee would visit North Waziristan on Tuesday where direct talks would take place with the Taliban leadership.
Nawaz said that the Kashmir issue should be resolved. He added that India hesitated every time Pakistan approached it for talks on Kashmir. The premier also proposed an intervention by a third force over the issue and said that the matter could be resolved until a third force was involved.
Answering another question, the prime minister said that peace in Afghanistan was the need of Pakistan and also welcomed the US move of halting drone strikes in Pakistani territory.
NAWAZ MEETS KERRY:
Earlier, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif met US Secretary of State John Kerry and both sides reaffirmed their desire to continue the strategic dialogue, covering a wide range of areas.
Kerry said his country has great confidence in Pakistan’s nuclear security and will continue to work with Pakistan in fighting terrorism. In brief remarks to the press, he also assured cooperation to Pakistan to help meet its energy needs.
Kerry said the two countries were “deeply engaged” and said the two sides will focus on the issue of terrorism, counter terrorism, global energy besides Afghanistan and the bilateral Pakistan-United States relations.
Prime Minister Sharif said there were a lot of challenges for his government that came into power nine months back, however measures were afoot to address these.
He also mentioned his meeting with US President Barack Obama a few months ago in WashingtonDC and said the dialogue with the US will continue.
John Kerry mentioned his meeting in Washington with the Adviser to Prime Minister Sartaj Aziz recently and said he was looking forward to his meeting with Finance Minister Ishaq Dar soon.
The prime minister is accompanied by Special Assistant Syed Tariq Fatemi and Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry.