Action against Afghan Taliban and talks can’t go together: Nawaz

WASHINGTON: Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif on Friday said he had told the Afghan President Ashraf Ghani that Pakistan was prepared to assist peace talks but could not bring the Afghan Taliban to the negotiating table “and be asked to take action against them at the same time.”

“Pakistan has no reason to want any violence in Afghanistan. The attacks on the Afghan government, and indeed on Pakistan, emanated from the vast areas in Afghanistan now under Taliban control,” he said while addressing the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) here.