Sartaj Aziz: Pakistan can influence Afghan Taliban Leadership

Prime Minister’s senior aide Sartaj Aziz has revealed that the leadership of the Afghan Taliban is in Pakistan allowing Islamabad to pressurize them to come to negotiation table.

It has been the first time from a Pakistani official to publicly accept that Afghan Taliban leadership is residing inside Pakistan. Sartaj Aziz, the advisor to Prime Minister on foreign affairs, has revealed that Afghan Taliban leadership enjoys safe heavens inside Pakistan but he gave a reason for that. According to him, Islamabad has allowed this because it can use this as leverage in pressurizing the group to come to the negotiating table.

Sartaj Aziz was speaking at the Council on Foreign Affairs in Washington on Tuesday, where he admitted that Pakistan has some influence over the leadership of Taliban because they get facilities like medical here and their families are living here.

“We have some influence on them because their leadership is in Pakistan and they get some medical facilities, their families are here.”

He said that using this as leverage, Islamabad can pressurize them to come to the negotiating table in striking a power sharing deal with the current Afghan government.

“So we can use those levers to pressurise them to say: ‘Come to the table’,” he added, according to a transcript on the think tank’s website.

Aziz further revealed that before the July 7^th meeting, Islamabad use this against them to put them on table. Like threatening them to restrict their movement, stopping medical facilities and threat of expelling them from the country.

“We already — before the 7th July meeting last year — we had to use some of these levers and restricted their movements, restricted their access to hospital and other facilities, and threatened them that if you do not come forward and talk, then obviously we will at least expel you,” he said.

However, Sartaj Aziz maintained that Pakistan’s role was nothing more than a facilitator and that is what it will remain ahead as well. Islamabad wants peace in Afghanistan and it is now up to Kabul to make these negotiations fruitful. He added that Pakistan is sincere in its efforts of reconciliation between the Afghanistan and Taliban and its intentions should not be read incorrectly by anyone.

“We are not the actual negotiators. So I hope as we go along our sincerity in this task will be recognised, and with the hope that Afghan government will play a more active role for the success of these talks.”

Earlier, Taliban was reluctant to come to table because of one demand they put forth, which was rejected by the incumbent Afghan government. Taliban wanted the current Afghan government to resign with an interim government taking over before striking any deal to end this bloodshed in the region. However, according to sources, Taliban have now withdrawn this demand and are ready to come to the table as other than this outrageous demand, all other demands have been met by the Afghan government.