ISLAMABAD: The interior minister, in his signature elusive style, signalled on Friday that dialogue with the Taliban had all but broken down.

Blaming the allegations being levelled against the government by the other side for this deadlock, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said: “Negotiations cannot continue under these tense circumstances.”

Despite his pessimism, Nisar did not clearly say if this meant an end to the government’s attempts to seek a rapprochement with the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and allied groups. The minister said he would report this to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Monday, upon the latter’s return from the United Kingdom.

The interior minister’s remarks come less than 48 hours after Army Chief General Raheel Sharif warned non-state actors to either submit to the law of the land or face the military’s might.

The minister’s remarks, made before reporters at an MoU signing between the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) and the Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, prompted more questions than they answered, especially on the future of the talks.

In a reference to the negotiators representing the TTP, Nisar said those who were supposed to facilitate the peace process were apparently trying to create discord by publicly saying the opposite of what they agreed to in meetings. “Their statements have been in complete contradiction with the facts.”

He said there was no delay on the part of the government, which was prepared to move forward even now. “But if the players from the other side have some other idea in mind, they are welcome to try it.”

Meaningful dialogue, he maintained, could not be achieved in the current scenario.

Nisar said there was no confusion on the government’s part. “There were people who had been opposed to the idea of dialogue from day one. There are parties that were considered supporters of the talks, but some of their recent statements have come as a shock to us,” he said.

The minister insisted that violence in the country had gone down since the TTP and the government announced a ceasefire. “There hasn’t been a major terrorist attack for days,” he said, adding that he still believed talks were the way forward. “Contact was established, we assessed their approach, demands and body language,” he concluded.

“In my last meeting with the prime minister, which was also attended by the army chief and the ISI chief I had stressed that the next meeting with the Taliban committee should be decisive and a clear agenda should be put forth by both sides,” he said. The next meeting between the two sides is scheduled to take place soon, but there has been no word from the Taliban side on when and where that might be.

On a question about the current state of civil-military relations, he said there were no problems before the Martyrs’ Day and there would be no problems in the days to come either. He refused to comment on Prof Ibrahim’s remarks, warning the government against giving a safe exit to retired general Pervez Musharraf.

The minister also told reporters that Nadra would soon get a new chairman, to be appointed in a proper, transparent manner.