“This ANP-sponsored offer of talks is just the party's election agenda,” said Ehsanullah Ehsan, a spokesman for the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), told Dawn.com on Friday from an undisclosed location.

Two weeks after the banned militant outfit had initially made a conditional offer for peace talks with the government, the country’s major political parties huddled together on Thursday at an ANP-led all parties conference, and announced they had all agreed on the need for peace through dialogue with the militants.

“Attaining peace through dialogue should be the first priority,” said a joint declaration read out by ANP chief Asfandyr Wali Khan.

However, the Pakistani Taliban dismissed the contents of the declaration as “old wine in a new bottle.”

“The Taliban are still waiting for a serious and meaningful response to peace talks offer from the Pakistani government and the military,” said Ehsan, reading out what he said was a statement issued after a key meeting of the Taliban shura (council).

“The non-participation of the Jamaat-i-Islami in the APC is also a clear indication that it was a failure,” he added.