NDP leader Jack Layton is calling on the Harper government to support peace overtures to the Taliban being made by the Afghan and American governments.

Layton has been vilified by the Conservatives for two years over his call for negotiations.

But Layton said Wednesday that he takes no satisfaction knowing the Afghans, the Pakistanis and even the United States government are now in favour of conciliation with some elements of the hardline Islamist movement.

"If you happen to come forward with an idea that makes sense and people take a while to coming around to it, you know, that's obviously a good thing," Layton said after the first meeting of his new, post-election caucus.

"I'm glad more and more people are agreeing with us, but I wish it would have happened sooner, and let's get moving on it.

"We'll just continue to do our job. I don't regard matters like this as ones where there is vindication or not."

On Tuesday, senior envoys from both Afghanistan and Pakistan endorsed further negotiations with elements of the Taliban, some of whom spoke with representatives of Afghan President Hamid Karzai this month in Saudi Arabia.

The U.S. also conceded it would be "reaching out" to the more reasonable factions that make up the Taliban.

Beyond its violent core of extremists, the insurgency is composed of a wide swath of criminals as well as disgruntled members of Afghan and Pakistani society.

The Tory government has been deeply reticent about making any conciliatory moves for both diplomatic and domestic political reasons.

When reports surfaced last spring that Canadian soldiers were encouraging militants to talk with local Afghan authorities in Kandahar, the government reacted with a frenzy of angry denials.

Defence Minister Peter MacKay termed the reports out of line, saying Canadians were not negotiating with militants. He insisted that only the Afghan government could make peace overtures to the Taliban.

However, the battlefield strategy is part of an evolving counter-insurgency doctrine that's been embraced by U.S., British and Canadian commanders on the ground, where they attempt to drive wedges between the various Taliban factions.

The Afghan government has long been privately frustrated with the lukewarm reception its allies, including Canada, have accorded previous efforts at conciliation.

Layton's stand saw him labelled as "Taliban Jack" — a description that still smarts.

"We certainly saw from the government a lot of name-calling around the issue of the war in Afghanistan," he said.

"At first, there wasn't, let's just say, overwhelming support for that proposition ... And I'm simply calling on Mr. Harper to make sure that his new cabinet isn't a name-calling group and instead takes seriously the need for a change in direction in Afghanistan."

Whether the peace overtures result in a decrease in violence remains to be seen.

There is a lot of infighting among the various factions of the Taliban.

Hardline elements have long insisted that there be no peace negotiations until all foreign troops have left Afghanistan.