By KUNA,
Islamabad : A Pakistani minister Friday said that the government was holding peace negotiations with local Taliban militants and that this was in national interest.
Confirming continuous talks with the militants, Federal Defense Minister Chauhdary Ahmed Mukhtar, talking to newsmen, said that a peace agreement would also benefit the whole world and help in curbing cross-border attacks.
The new government in Islamabad had launched a new round of peace talks with militants to bring peace and normalcy in the bordering troubled tribal region.
However, talks faced deadlock two weeks back when Taliban announced quitting and said that the government had not fulfilled its commitment of withdrawing troops from the region.
Last week, the government swapped about 35 militants for 12 soldiers, including two military officials, while the military started pulling out slowly from the two areas of South Waziristan tribal agency.
The talks have been opposed by the US but endorsed by the EU and Britain.
The minister rejecting US opposition to peace talks said that successful talks would be beneficial for the whole world.
Commenting on recent US-guided missiles’ attack in Bajaur tribal agency, the minister said that the government was collecting details of the incident and was in contact with the US government in this regard.
He said the Bajaur agency incident could be a mistake. More than 20 persons were killed when two US-guided missiles hit a house in Bajaur tribal agency on Wednesday night.