TTP dialogue: an unbalanced rationale
To 'persuade' the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) to come together for peace in Kabul this summer under the control of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA), notably the 'Haqqani' Group, Pakistan flew in tribal elders, Ulema, bureaucrats, and stakeholders. The discussions, which were supposed to start in October 2021, are supposedly at a standstill since TTP appears unlikely to budge from its key demand of undoing the former FATA's merger with the province of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. Such reversal is not taking place since it would require a constitutional amendment. The TTP's insistence on maintaining its military presence in its home country despite a peace agreement has reportedly drawn the ire of Pakistani interlocutors. On July 30, 2022, a second tribal group from Pakistan arrived in Kabul as part of the most recent effort to advance the peace negotiations. This team joined a previous Ulema delegation headed by Mufti Taqi Usmani. Ulema further urg