Afghanistan interim Foreign Minister Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi is likely to visit Pakistan in the next month, media reports said on Monday.
The two governments have had sour relations since the PDM-led government came into power in Islamabad in 2022. However, Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) chief Sirajul Haq is playing a role to bring both brotherly neighbouring countries close.
He telephoned the Afghan interim Foreign Minister and conveyed his best wishes and prayers for Taliban-ruled Afghanistan.
Sirajul Haq also conveyed his felicitations for the Afghan Supreme Commander Hibatullah Akhundzada on the occasion of Eidul Fitr.
JI Secretary Information Qaiser Sharif said that both leaders also discussed matters pertaining to overall political situation of the region.
On the occasion, Mr Muttaqi expressed his desire to visit Pakistan after Eid, and hoped that the visit would strengthen ties between the countries.
According to media reports, the development came a few weeks after Defence Minister Khawaja Asif warned the Afghan Taliban that Islamabad will strike terrorists’ hideouts inside Afghanistan if the Kabul government are unable to control anti-Pakistan militants.
On April 13, in an interview with VOA, the defence minister had warned the Afghan Taliban that Islamabad will strike terrorists’ hideouts inside Afghanistan if the de facto rulers in Kabul are unable to rein in anti-Pakistan militants.
Since the Afghan Taliban’s takeover of Kabul in August 2021, Pakistan has witnessed a resurgence in terror attacks led by Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), an ideological offshoot and ally of the Afghan Taliban.
According to the Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies, the country recorded at least 262 terror attacks in 2022, of which the TTP was responsible for at least 89.
Pakistan alleges TTP leadership is operating from Afghanistan after Pakistani military operations in the border areas a few years ago forced it to flee along with thousands of fighters.