IF the TTP can be tamed politically, nothing like it. If death and destruction can come to an end through dialogue, then why not? Talks, said Nawaz Sharif on Monday, are the “best option”. Speaking to a gathering of his party’s newly elected MPs in Lahore, the incoming prime minis- ter made remarks that deserve to be noted. The PML-N chief referred to the 40,000 casualties the Taliban have inflicted on the country — and the consequent cost to the economy — and said that dialogue was not a bad option. The question is: will a dialogue with the Taliban work? What is their track record? Have they in the past abided by the agreements worked out with the state of Pakistan and kept their peace?

The victor of the May 11 vote is a worried man. The problems he has to fix range from the energy crisis to a sinking public sector. Foreign exchange reserves have tumbled, industry is stagnating, foreign investment is shy and Pakistani entrepreneurs are investing abroad. On top of this is the need for the new regime to develop a working relationship with the federating units to be ruled by other parties. But all this is not possible without giving peace to the people who have seen, heard and suffered blast after blast since the Taliban began their terror campaign in 2007.

Undeniably, the PML-N has a conservative outlook and was one of the three parties the Taliban had chosen as ‘guarantors’. Nevertheless, now that he is about to form government, Mr Sharif knows all too well that all his plans for the economy’s revival — and such fancy projects as a bullet train — will never see the light of day without an end to the insurgency. If he thus seeks a negotiated end to the insurgency, his government must not only talk from a position of strength, the PML-N high command should also be mindful of certain incontrovertible realities: the Taliban have used the peace interregnum to shore up their defences; they continue to host terrorists from all parts of Pakistan and abroad, and they reject the democratic process. If the Taliban want peace, they must renounce violence, accept the sovereignty of the state of Pakistan on every bit of territory and join the political mainstream. The state will give away nothing; it is the Taliban who have to accept the fundamentals of civilised living, like democracy, education and women’s rights. That’s what the talks should aim at.