Nawaz Sharif's adviser says 'talks with Taliban to start within next few days'

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's Adviser on Foreign Affairs, Sartaj Aziz, has confirmed that talks with Taliban militants is likely to start within the next few days.

Aziz said that though the United States might not make an official statement for stopping the drone strikes, he hoped the attacks would eventually die out by the end of the year.

"We are developing a comprehensive anti-terrorism policy and holding talks with TTP is part of that strategy. We are developing a national consensus on this and that's why we held the all-party conference in Islamabad recently," he said in an interview to Dawn.

Aziz disclosed that the government had already made headway with the Taliban.

US officials reportedly said that they had no objections to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's engaging with the Taliban provided the latter agrees to recognize the Pakistani constitution and respect the law.