Just because talks won't work doesn't mean people should not try.

Almost a year after the last doomed attempt at political dialogue, the government and opposition are once again making the right noises. As the year draws to a close, there's a perceptible softening of rhetoric, relatively speaking of course, between the two sides. Something is surely afoot.

Excited? Errr... not really.

Don't get me wrong. The talks will likely happen at some level. Some people will agree on a vague agenda, sit across a table, generate good photo-ops, perhaps even a temporary feel-good factor, a little relief here and there might be thrown in for good measure, and maybe, just maybe, a joint presser or two could also materialise. But for all the good that this is worth, talks will not lead to anything substantive.

Or could they defy the odds?

Let's look at the odds, then. The government has offered dialogue, and yet this is not the first time it has done so. When Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif told his cabinet colleagues this week that he would welcome talks with the opposition, he merely repeated what he had done so numerous times previously. Is he more serious this time? Possibly. Does he feel the timing is more suitable now? Probably. But is he willing to offer something to the opposition that he has not done so yet?........

© The Express Tribune