Pakistan Takes Step Toward Talks With the Taliban ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - A conference of Pakistan's political and military leadership on Monday agreed to clear the way for peace talks with the Pakistani Taliban, calling it the best strategy to end a decade of militant-driven bloodshed. The closed-door meeting was attended by representatives of all the major political parties, the army chief, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, and the head of the Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate, the country's main spy agency, Lt. Gen. Zaheer ul-Islam. In a statement afterward, the participants announced that they had given Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's government permission to start a peace dialogue by identifying Taliban representatives who might participate in talks. Mr. Sharif, who has previously faced accusations of pandering to militants, made dialogue with the Taliban a cornerstone of his campaign in the May general election. "It is a good day for Pakistan," said Mir Hasil Khan Bizenjo, a senator from western Baluchistan province, during a television talk-show hours later. Today, the political parties have given the government a mandate for peace. But while the six-hour conference Monday cemented the political consensus for talks, it offered little detail on how such talks might work in practice - or, indeed, what issues the government might be willing to negotiate. The process also threatens to further cloud Pakistan's complicated relationship with Islamist militants: even as the military has fought the Pakistani Taliban, it has long been accused of fostering other terrorist groups at work against Indian, Afghan and American interests, among others. The Pakistani Taliban's stated aim is to overthrow the government and replace it with an Islamic caliphate, and its ideological opposition to the government and military has fueled a nonstop campaign of violence for years. The leadership statement stopped short of naming specific Taliban militants, although it did refer to them as "stakeholders." And it contained strongly worded references to the United States, stressing that Pakistan would not accept any pressure from the Obama administration on this new front. "We shall ourselves determine the means and mode of fighting this war in our national interest and shall not be guided by the United States of America or any other country," the statement read. Later, local news media reported that a Taliban spokesman welcomed the announcement and said that the militant group would soon issue a detailed response. It was not the first time Pakistan's politicians have discussed the militant problem. Two conferences were held under the previous government of Mr. Zardari's Pakistan Peoples Party. But they did not result in a substantive outcome. On Monday, the army leadership gave qualified support to his policy. "Talks should be meaningful," General Kayani was quoted as saying after the conference. Liaqat Baloch, a senior leader of Jamaat-e-Islami, a religious political party, said all parties had agreed that negotiating with the Taliban was better than fighting the militants. "Instead of force, dialogue should be adopted," Mr. Baloch said. It is a better option. Salman Masood reported from Islamabad, and Declan Walsh from London