Even though clerics from the Taliban did not “officially” attend the Trilateral Ulema Conference in Bogor on Friday as hoped, Vice President Jusuf Kalla said the militant group had indicated support for the peace dialogue.

When asked if representatives from the Taliban were participating in the forum, Kalla said: “Officially not because this was a government proposal. The Taliban is not participating, but have given a statement that the Taliban is supporting this peace.”

Muslim clerics from Indonesia, Pakistan and Afghanistan gathered at the Bogor Palace on Friday when they discussed their roles in helping to establish peace and stability in Afghanistan.

Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) foreign affairs chairman Muhyidin Junaidi earlier said the tripartite meeting was first slated for March 15, but was postponed because the Taliban would have been underrepresented. The ulema with the Taliban, he said, had often issued controversial fatwa allowing attacks against the legitimate government.

“So we want to invite them for discussions and find the problem, because in Islam we [are not supposed to] kill others, especially fellow religious people,” he said.

However, the Taliban issued a statement in March calling for a boycott of the conference and described the peace efforts as “deceptive” from an “illegitimate” Afghan government.

The whole-day conference produced a joint statement called the Bogor Ulema Declaration for Peace, which in particular raised a call for all sides to “join direct peace talks” in efforts to promote dialogue to settle conflicts. In addition, Indonesia vowed to continue efforts with Pakistan to push for an inclusive peacebuilding process. Kalla said the declaration was merely the initial step in a long process toward peace, in which ulema played an important role in calling for Muslims to uphold peaceful values.

“The final purpose is to create peace between the Afghan government and the Taliban,” he said. “Together Indonesia and Pakistan [...] will further push the conflicting parties to sit down and engage in dialogue on how to achieve peace.”

The trilateral dialogue was attended by about 45 participants from the three countries, which included about 20 ulema from Afghanistan and 15 from Pakistan.

In the declaration, the ulema agreed to contribute to the inclusive peace process “while recognizing various efforts and peace offers to find viable solutions for peace in Afghanistan”.

The ulema said Muslims living in Afghanistan had for decades suffered hardship, and thus it was necessary for clerics to play a role in establishing an environment conducive to peace, which could be achieved through talks involving the parties in conflict. Afghanistan has endured conflicts for decades. Afghan and United States forces have been battling against the Taliban since 2001.

The war-torn state recently sought help from Indonesia. Earlier this year, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo separately met his Afghan counterpart Ashraf Ghani, Pakistani President Mamnoon Hussain and Prime Minister Shahid Abbasi. He proposed hosting a trilateral ulema conference and they agreed.

In his speech to start the conference in the morning, Jokowi said ulema could best promote peace, as they were role models most Muslims listened to and they possessed the authority “to shape the Muslim image”.

“We know our efforts to create peace are never easy, but as people of faith, we must believe in help from God. Hence, we should not lose hope or give up,” the President said.

Fazal Ghani Kakar, of Afghanistan’s Nahdlatul Ulama, said all agreed the violence must end.

“Such violence is totally against the teachings [of Islam and the Quran] and it should stop,” Kakar said. “We are expecting that in future meetings there will be representation from the [Taliban].”

He said no date had been set for the next meeting, but added there would be exchanges between Pakistani and Afghan ulema.

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