ISLAMABAD: A delegation of Pakistan clerics left for the Indonesian capital Jakarta early on Wednesday where they will attend the trilateral Ulema Conference for peace in Afghanistan.
Clerics from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Indonesia will discuss peace efforts in the war-torn southeast Asian country at the conference on Friday.
Hafiz Tahir Ashrafi, head of the Pakistan Ulema Council (PUC), told Arab News that it is an important initiative but that the “real solution lies in dialogue among all stakeholders in Afghanistan.”
Ashrafi added that “religious scholars can only appeal through such conferences.”
“Pakistan has always supported peace efforts in Afghanistan,” he said, adding that he had been invited to the conference, but he had pre-scheduled commitments. He dismissed media reports that he was not attending the trilateral conference at the request of the Afghan Taliban.
“We have not received any letter or message from the Afghan Taliban asking not to attend the trilateral conference,” he said.
Dr. Qibla Ayaz, head of Pakistan’s Council of Islamic Ideology (CII), the constitutional body that advises the government on religious aspects of law, and Rector Islamic International University Islamabad (IIUI), Dr. Masoom Yasinzai, are part of the Pakistani delegation traveling to Jakarta.
Dr. Ayaz told Arab News that clerics from different sects are part of the Pakistani delegation.
“Earlier, Pakistani religious scholars unanimously issued a fatwa (decree) in which they declared all forms of terrorism and suicide attacks un-Islamic. I think Indonesia would want to benefit from the manner in which we developed the narrative against militancy,” said Dr. Ayaz.
He added that holding the trilateral conference is important for peace in neighboring Afghanistan and the region.
In November 2017, Chairman Afghan High Peace Council Karim Khalili and other senior council members visited Indonesia and discussed the proposal of holding trilateral conference of Ulemas (religious clerics) from Indonesia, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
As Indonesia is one of the major Muslim countries, the Afghan High Peace Council asked Jakarta to support the peace efforts in Afghanistan through religious clerics as they still have some influence over Taliban and its warring factions.
Ayaz expressed the hope that the deliberations would lead to a unanimous appeal for peace in Afghanistan with religious clerics urging the factions to stop violence and join the peace process.
Pakistani clerics leave for trilateral conference on Afghanistan in Jakarta
Pakistani clerics leave for trilateral conference on Afghanistan in Jakarta
- As religious clerics from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Indonesia meet to discuss the war-torn country, hopes rise that they will bring warring factions to the peace process.
- Earlier, Pakistani religious scholars unanimously issued a fatwa (decree) in which they declared all forms of terrorism and suicide attacks un-Islamic.
India has told Pakistan to control ‘drone intrusions,’ Indian army chief says
- Indian army chief General Upendra Dwivedi says at least eight drones from Pakistani have been sighted since Saturday
- Ties between nuclear-armed neighbors have been frozen since May last year when both sides engaged in fierce fighting
NEW DELHI: India’s army chief said on Tuesday that the head of Pakistan’s military operations had been told to control what he said were drone intrusions from Pakistan into India, months after the nuclear-armed rivals engaged in their worst fighting in decades.
An Indian military source said there were five drone intrusions on Sunday evening on the frontier in the Jammu region of Indian Kashmir.
In another incident on Friday, a drone from Pakistan was suspected to have dropped two pistols, three ammunition magazines, 16 bullets and one grenade that were recovered following a search, the source said.
Indian army chief General Upendra Dwivedi said at least eight drones had been sighted since Saturday.
“These drones, I believe, were defensive drones, which want to go up and see if any action was being taken,” Dwivedi told reporters at an annual press conference ahead of Army Day on January 15.
“It’s possible they also wanted to see if there were any gaps, any laxity in the Indian army, any gaps through which they could send terrorists,” he said, adding that the directors of military operations of the two sides spoke by phone on Tuesday.
“This matter was discussed ... today and they have been told that this is unacceptable to us, and please put a stop to it. This has been conveyed to them,” Dwivedi said.
Indian media reports cited army officials as saying the incursions were by military drones.
There was no immediate reaction from Pakistan to his comments.
MAY CONFLICT WAS WORST IN DECADES
Ties between the nuclear-armed rivals have been frozen since a four-day conflict in May, their worst in decades, that was sparked after a militant
attack on Hindu tourists in Kashmir killed 26 men. New Delhi said the attack was backed by Pakistan, allegations which Islamabad denied.
The two sides used fighter jets, missiles, drones and heavy artillery, killing dozens on both sides before agreeing to a ceasefire.
In the past, there have been reports of civilian drone intrusions from Pakistan into Indian states along the border, with Indian security agencies telling local media that they had shot down drones that were seeking to drop light arms or drugs.
Pakistan has dismissed these accusations as baseless and misleading.
India also accuses Pakistan of helping what it says are “terrorists” to enter into the Indian side of Kashmir, where tens of thousands of people have been killed in a revolt against New Delhi’s rule that began in 1989 and lasted decades until the violence ebbed.
Pakistan denies the Indian accusations and says that it only provides political and diplomatic support to Kashmiris fighting against New Delhi.
