NOWSHERA: Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Thursday talked to chief of his own faction of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-S) Maulana Samiul Haq by phone and discussed with him ways of restoring peace in Afghanistan.

The telephonic conversation took place in the presence of Afghan Ambassador to Pakistan Umar Zakhilwal who was at the Darul Uloom Haqqania, Akora Khattak, at the time.

This was the Afghan diplomat’s second visit to the maulana’s madressah in two months.

The conversation between President Ghani and Maulana Haq lasted about 30 minutes during which they discussed options for restoring peace to the war-torn country, sources in the madressah said.

According to them, the Afghan leader described the JUI-S chief not just as a mentor to the Taliban but a respectable figure for the entire Afghan nation, which looked up to the latter for restoration of peace in their country. For his part, Maulana Haq stressed the need for peace both in Afghanistan and Pakistan, but said the Afghan government needed to play an active role in achieving the objective.

He said the Afghan government as well as the Afghan people should get rid of foreign forces so that the numerous sacrifices rendered by Afghanistan’s people did not go to waste. He was of the opinion that the foreign forces wanted to see stability neither in Afghanistan nor in Pakistan.

According to the sources, Maulana Haq also suggested the goodwill gestures that could reduce the acrimony between the Afghan government and Taliban.

However, the Afghan ambassador said the Taliban leaders should come forward to hold negotiations with his government.

At this, Maulana Haq underlined the need for the Afghan and Pakistani governments to resolve their differences through dialogue.

According to the sources, he also expressed concern over the growing influence of India in Afghanistan.

Published in Dawn, January 20th, 2017