ISLAMABAD: On Monday, Pakistan’s Foreign Office (FO) declared that the country was “not interested” in engaging in talks with Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, the FO spokesman, clarified Pakistan’s position during a weekly media briefing by saying that the TTP has admitted responsibility for multiple terrorist acts in the nation. She continued, “We demand that the Afghan government take action against the terrorists.”
The spokesperson went on to say that neither the FO nor the Pakistani government had anything to do with Maulana Fazlur Rehman, the leader of Jamiat-e-Ulema Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), visiting Afghanistan.
Maulana Fazlur Rehman had received a briefing from the Foreign Office before to his arrival. The spokeswoman reiterated that the party head was not visiting, saying, “He has gone on his own, his own volition.”
The announcement from the FO coincides with the JUI-F chief’s ‘pleasure’ to bring back negotiations between Pakistan and the TTP.
When Maulana Fazl met with Haibatullah Akhundzada, the supreme commander of Afghanistan, in Kabul the day before, he received assurances that Pakistan’s upcoming elections would go place peacefully and that steps would be made to restart Islamabad’s negotiations with the TTP, which is outlawed.
Along with defining a soft strategy for the deportation of its refugees, the Afghan government also demanded that Islamabad contribute to the dismantling of the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) and grant visas at the Chaman border.
Mullah Shirin Akhund, the governor of Kandahar, turned down a meeting with other delegates but assured the JUI-F chairman that Haibatullah would meet with him when he was in Kabul.
During their one-on-one conversation, Fazl and Haibatullah talked about the TTP, ISKP, border management, soft visa policy, and refugees.
According to a source, the JUI-F chairman urged for guarantees of a ceasefire until peaceful elections in Pakistan, but he also pledged to bring up the concerns in Kabul with the appropriate authorities in Islamabad.
