The cost of peace talks.

EVEN if the government signs a peace accord with the banned TTP, it will provide only temporary or partial respite to the security institutions. For the latter, which have been fighting the terrorist group for the last one-and-a-half decade, making peace with the TTP may be linked to securing the border and accelerating the mainstreaming of former Fata, but any deal with the group will have implications for the whole country.

Talking with the TTP is not a popular idea among most experts, politicians, civil society activists, law-enforcement practitioners, and military commanders who fought against the group. Many assert that the state must not negotiate anything less than the surrender of the terrorists; the security institutions believe that the group is already defeated. The assumption that peace with the TTP will bring stability to the tribal region and help manage the borders with Afghanistan is also contested. For one, many disgruntled members and factions within the TTP could splinter to either form one or more new groups or join the Islamic State's Khorasan chapter (IS-K), which has already intensified its terrorist attacks inside Pakistan.

Editorial: More transparency is needed on part of the state regarding peace talks with the TTP

The institutions may have other geopolitical objectives, which have been narrated several times on these pages, including curtailing the TTP's ties with the intelligence agencies of hostile countries. Still, many observers believe that any agreement with the TTP will ultimately strengthen the Haqqanis in the turf war within Afghan Taliban ranks. If this is the case, it is not clear how the Haqqanis can protect the interests of Pakistan. The TTP has always had a very cordial relationship with the Haqqanis and the latter will never opt to act against it. A recent statement by the Afghan interior minister Sirajuddin Haqqani validates that argument; he not only acknowledged the 'sacrifices' made by the TTP for the Afghan Taliban but also insisted that they would not pressurise the TTP in the ongoing talks between the group and the Pakistani government. He categorically said that any solution should be based on mutual understanding and the principle of give and take.

The issue of talks with the TTP must be brought into the mainstream discussion.

In that context, the pursuit of making peace with the TTP looks like an illusionary idea. Significantly, the reversal of the Fata merger is critical, and TTP is not...