The interim Afghan government admitted to Pakistani authorities in closed-door meetings that the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) was a problem but objected to Islamabad’s approach to dealing with the problem, sources familiar with the development told The Express Pakinomist Sunday.

They said Pakistani and Afghan Taliban authorities had extensive discussions recently to find a way out of their troubled relationship. At the heart of their strained ties was the issue of the presence of the outlawed TTP and its affiliates in Afghanistan.

Pakistan has long been concerned that terrorist hideouts across the border have given rise to the terrorist attacks. Islamabad has repeatedly called on the Taliban government in Kabul to neutralize the threat.

Publicly, Taliban-controlled Afghanistan insists that the TTP is Pakistan’s internal problem, but behind closed doors, Kabul admitted that their presence in Afghanistan was also a problem that needed solving.

But Taliban officials objected to Pakistan’s strategy to deal with the TTP problem. The sources explained that the Taliban authorities were of the view that a hardline approach to tackling the TTP threat would not work. Instead, Kabul proposed a dialogue process.

The Taliban government also warned Pakistan that intimidation and threatening statements would be counterproductive. But Pakistan made it clear to the Taliban that it had exhausted the possibility of talks and gave Kabul plenty of time to resolve the issue, but to no avail.

Pakistan also told the Afghan authorities that the TTP demands were unacceptable. However, the Taliban believed that parties often start negotiations with maximalist positions, but soften their stance once the process moved forward. The Taliban cited the example of their laborious talks with the US in Doha.

Pakistani officials insisted there was no comparison between the two situations. The US was an occupying power and had to leave one day. The TTP and its affiliates, on the other hand, had challenged the state prosecutors and sought to introduce their own system in the country.

“There is no question of treating the TTP as a legitimate entity. Pakistan drove these terror groups out of its soil and would continue to seek their complete eradication,” a Pakistani official stressed while requesting anonymity. The official said the Taliban needed to realize that harboring the TTP would hurt their cause in the long run.

Army Chief General Syed Asim Munir in a recent meeting in Peshawar emphasized the need for the Afghan Taliban government to tackle the TTP threat. He made it clear that Pakistan considers Afghanistan as “fraternal neighbor” and seeks better ties. However, he added that improvement in the bilateral relationship depended on Kabul removing terrorist hideouts from its soil.