ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office on Thursday distanced itself from Jamiat Ulama-i-Islam-Fazl chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s visit to Afghanistan that focused on the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) issue, a key point of contention in Pakistan-Afghanistan relations.

“He (Fazl) is not visiting Afghanistan as an emissary of the Government of Pakistan and he is there in his individual capacity,” FO spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said at the weekly media briefing while responding to multiple questions about the trip by the prominent religio-political figure.

Maulana Fazl had travelled to Kabul on Sunday leading a delegation of Deobandi clerics, some of whom enjoy considerable influence on Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers.

Though this is the second time that FO dissociated itself from the visit, Pakistani chargé d’affaires in Kabul Obaid Nizamani had accompanied him on the journey from Islamabad. He had, moreover, been briefed on Afghan ties at FO before embarking on the visit.

Maulana Fazl received the official invitation for the trip from Taliban administration after he conveyed his desire to visit Afghanistan for discussing issues that had been souring the ties, especially that of TTP.

FO spokesperson rubbishes claims in ex-Indian envoy’s book as attempt to advance India’s ‘fictitious narratives’

During his visit, Maulana Fazl, who undertook the trip in the middle of hectic election campaign, met key Taliban leaders, including the Prime Minister of the interim Afghan government and the supreme leader Haibatullah Akhunzada in Kandahar. It was Maulana Fazl’s first trip to Afghanistan since Taliban’s assumption of control following the US withdrawal in 2021.

Though Maulana Fazl and his entourage were warmly welcomed in Afghanistan, many Taliban leaders were sceptical about the initiative as they believed that the cleric undertook the visit for personal interests.

Maulana Fazl reportedly assured his Taliban interlocutors that the incoming government, which will take office after Feb 8 polls, will review the issue of negotiations with TTP. He had also sought Afghan Taliban administration’s help for preventing TTP attacks during elections.

On the possibility of resumption of talks with TTP that broke down in late 2022 when the terrorist group ended the ceasefire, the FO spokesperson said: “Our position hasn’t changed. Pakistan is not interested in dialogue with TTP. We have no dialogue taking place, nor do we intend to have a dialogue with TTP.”

“Our demands from the Afghan authorities haven’t changed, they remain the same, which is that the Afghan authorities should take action, effective action against terrorist elements inside Afghanistan, including TTP leadership,” she said.

Indian diplomat’s book

The spokesperson disparaged the former High Commissioner of India to Pakistan Ajay Bisaria’s newly released book, Anger Management: The Troubled Diplomatic Relationship between India and Pakistan, as an attempt to “advance India’s fictitious narratives around the developments of February 2019 and the usual chest thumping that Indian officials have adopted as their default narrative”.

The book covers significant events such as the Pulwama attack, the Balakot airstrike, and the abrogation of Article 370 in Kashmir. The book notably reveals an incident where former PM Imran Khan, fearing an Indian missile attack post-Balakot, tried to initiate a midnight call with Indian PM Narendra Modi to avert further escalation.

“As the next Lok Sabha elections draw closer, it is not surprising that a Pakistan bashing, jingoistic and militaristic narrative is now being unleashed in India,” she further noted.

Published in Dawn, January 12th, 2024