ISLAMABAD: The government has not yet decided to launch a full-scale military offensive in North Waziristan and talks with the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) have not been called off, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said on Saturday.

Talking about the ongoing air strikes against militant hideouts in the TTP stronghold, he said this ‘limited military action’ was in line with the policy that calls for a calibrated and measured response to acts of terror against civilian or military targets.

A senior military official also told Dawn that Wednesday’s air strikes, in which the military claimed to have killed around 60 terrorists, were launched with the sanction of the civilian leadership in Islamabad. These strikes, he added, were a reply to terrorist attacks that have rocked Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) and Karachi.

The remarks from both sides seem to dispel an impression that the government and the military were not on the same page about the peace process.

In a statement released on Saturday, the interior minister refuted the content of a news wire report about the proceedings of a recently-held security meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. The report claimed that the army chief and the prime minister disagreed over the fate of the talks with the outlawed TTP and that the army chief had told the PM that the time for talks was over.

Chaudhry Nisar said the meeting was held in a positive atmosphere and a wide range of issues pertaining to national security, including the security situation on the borders, was discussed. “No decision was taken to launch a full-scale military operation in North Waziristan. There was no decision to call off the dialogue process either, and there was no such demand from either side,” he said.

The minister also said that it had not yet been decided whether the army should be called in to take over the security of Islamabad and other major cities, nor was the National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA) involved in this process.

He said efforts to strengthen the capacity of police and other civilian law-enforcement agencies through the support of the armed forces were being taken, adding that this had been misinterpreted by press reports on the matter.

He stressed that this was not a recent decision and the plans had been under the hammer for quite some time. “Since this entire exercise is still under consideration and open to discussion, it is too early to pass judgments what form this coordination will take”, he observed.

An interior ministry official explained that a decision had already been taken to reply to terrorist attacks after the TTP called off the ceasefire, adding that doors for dialogue were still open. “The other side has been told that talks and terrorism cannot go on simultaneously and that any anti-state activity will elicit a strong response.”

He said the government was continuing to give peace a chance and had demonstrated its commitment to the peace process. Even after the end of the ceasefire, the government kept trying to restart talks, he said, adding that the government had decided to pursue another round of direct talks with TTP leaders. “We are waiting for the other side to give a date and time.”

Published in Dawn, May 25th, 2014