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The two committees formed by the Pakistan government and the Taliban to hold a peace dialogue will meet here Tuesday, a media report said Monday.
According to a report in Geo News, the decision came following a telephonic conversation between Maulana Samiul Haq, who is a member of the Taliban committee, and Irfan Siddiqui, who is representing the government.
"We want to have an open dialogue with the Taliban committee," Siddiqui was quoted as saying.
The Pakistani Taliban Sunday formally announced a five-member committee of senior political and religious leaders to mediate peace talks with government negotiators.
The Taliban named Maulana Samiul Haq, cricketer-turned-politician and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan, Lal Masjid cleric Maulana Abdul Aziz, Jamaat-i-Islami's (JUI) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief Muhammad Ibrahim and Mufti Kifayatullah of the JUI-F.
However, Imran Khan will not be a part of the Taliban committee, his party said in a statement Monday.
It said Rustam Shah Mohmand, who is a member of the government's committee, would represent PTI in the peace talks.
The Pakistan government last week set up a four-member team to hold peace talks with the Taliban.
The committee includes Irfan Siddiqui, the prime minister's advisor on national affairs, Rahimullah Yusufzai, a senior journalist, Rustam Shah Mohmand, a former ambassador and expert on Afghanistan affairs and Amir Shah, a former ISI official.
Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif expressed satisfaction over the ongoing peace process between the government and the Taliban.
Sharif hoped that both the committees would move forward in a positive direction to bring peace to the country, according to a report on Radio Pakistan.
He said the government was serious about ending terrorism through dialogue as peace is vital to revive the economy.
Sharif said he himself was supervising the dialogue process and Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan was fully in touch with the government committee to assist in bringing about a positive outcome.
He said Pakistan also intended to resolve all outstanding issues with its neighbours, including India' to establish peace and stability in the region.
Meanwhile, President Mamnoon Hussain also expressed the hope that the peace talks would start soon as the entire country was looking towards holding successful and meaningful talks to ensure lasting peace and security in the country.
In another development, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) offered security to the members of the Pakistan government's negotiating committee in the areas under its control, Dawn reported.
TTP spokesperson Shahidullah Shahid, in a statement, said the political shura (council) of Taliban would guide the five-member committee nominated by it for the peace dialogue with the government.
