Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Saturday said that discussion on the issue of the banned militant Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) group is on the agenda in his upcoming visit to Afghanistan.

The Afghan interim government had delivered an invitation to the JUI-F chief last month to visit the country. The trip will be Rehman’s first visit to Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover in 2021.

He last travelled to Afghanistan in 2013 and met then-president Hamid Karzai.

“I have received an invitation with the approval of the Taliban supreme leader and will meet him,” the JUI-F chief told a group of reporters at his Islamabad residence today, saying that he would travel to Kandahar for a meeting with Taliban supreme leader Sheikh Haibatullah Akhundzada, who rarely meets foreign delegates.

When asked if he would take up the issue of the TTP with the Afghan side, he said: “Yes there is a possibility. We will use our relationship for goodwill.”

To a question about whether he would represent the government, the JUI-F chief said the visit was arranged by his party but he had contacted the Foreign Office (FO) and relevant government officials as well. “We will look into consideration of the interests of Pakistan and Afghanistan,” he added.

Rehman said the FO had arranged a briefing for him on January 3. “They informed me about Pakistan’s stance and its demands. I have realised that officials are attaching importance to my visit. The government is in contact with me,” he added.

To a question on whether he would deliver any message from the government to the Taliban rulers, he said he would use the level of his contacts with the Taliban leaders to the benefit of both countries.

“I will apprise the Taliban leaders of the stance of the government of Pakistan and whatever I have noticed during my meetings with the officials,” the JUI-F leader maintained.

When asked if his visit would help reduce tension between Pakistan and the Taliban government, he said it depended on the two countries.

“If they want to maintain brotherly relations and friendship, then complicated issues could be resolved. But if they do not have intentions, then small issues become big.

“The signals I have received indicate Pakistan’s desire that my visit produce results,” Rehman said.

“The Afghan side is also giving importance to the visit as the Taliban chief has personally extended an invitation to me”.

To another question on whether he would raise the issue of girls’ education with the Taliban leaders, he said there was no issue of girls’ education in Islamic law but every country had the right to adopt policies about internal affairs, peace and security, trade, economy and social reforms.

“There is no political change in Afghanistan but a 20-year war has ended. What is the problem of the world to talk about every issue in Afghanistan and try to force the Islamic Emirate to accept their demands.”

“Let them create an environment. The Islamic Emirate realises that it will go along with the world. They are in the process of establishing a system and will complete the process.”

The visit is scheduled at a time when relations between the two countries have suffered due to a spike in terrorist attacks, mostly claimed by the TTP group.

Islamabad has stated that the TTP and other groups use Afghan soil against Pakistan. The Afghan Taliban have denied the charge and have stated they will not allow anyone to use Afghan soil to be used against the neighbour. But authorities remain unconvinced and have demanded action against the TTP, its sanctuaries and the handover of its leaders.

In November, Caretaker Prime Minister Anwarul Haq Kakar said there was a 60 per cent increase in terrorism and a 500pc spike in suicide bombings since the Afghan Taliban came to power in August 2021.

Meanwhile, a report issued on Wednesday by Islamabad-based think tank Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies said that over 82pc of terrorism-related deaths in 2023 resulted from attacks perpetrated by three major groups, including the TTP and its subsidiaries such as the Tehreek-i-Jihad Pakistan, Islamic State of Khorasan and the Balochistan Liberation Army.

In its Pakistan Security Report for 2023, the think tank said the three groups carried out over 78pc of the total terrorist attacks recorded in the country in the year under review.