Taliban's talks offer should be taken seriously: Nawaz Sharif

The Taliban's offer for peace talks should be taken seriously as every issue cannot be solved through use of power and bullet, Pakistan's prime minister-designate Nawaz Sharif said Monday.

Holding negotiations was the only way to effectively solve problems, he said.

"We have lost several lives, our economy is deteriorating. If the Taliban offer us an option to have dialogue, we should take it seriously. Why can't we talk to the Taliban to make our country peaceful?" Xinhua quoted Sharif as saying.

The Taliban had offered "conditional dialogue" to the previous government in February but withdrew it after they did not receive a positive response.

The outfit said last week that it does not rule out a "ceasefire" if the new government shows "seriousness" to their dialogue offer.

Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan said if the new government takes the Taliban offer seriously, his group will also come up with a positive response.