‘Come to your senses’: What is Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif’s condition for talks with Imran’s party
Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Tuesday questioned the seriousness of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s offer for talks, calling it “merely symbolic” and saying the government had taken no concrete step beyond extending the invitation, Pakistan Today reported.PTI spokesperson Gohar said the Shehbaz Sharif-led government had also prevented PTI leaders from meeting the party’s founder and former PM Imran Khan, for nearly a year.Speaking to reporters in Rawalpindi, he said the last such meeting took place in October last year, Geo News reported.His remarks came after Sharif asked PTI to halt its ongoing long march towards Islamabad as a condition for holding talks.At an event in Islamabad, the prime minister warned that protests and long marches could hurt Pakistan’s economy. “I urge you to come to your senses, end the long march and sit-in, and then we will sit with you,” he said.The PTI-led march, meanwhile, continued towards Peshawar on Monday, with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister Sohail Afridi calling on party supporters to join the mobilisation.Afridi addressed march participants after the convoy reached Kohat and thanked residents for their “magnificent welcome”. He said the convoy would resume its journey towards Peshawar from University Chowk on Tuesday, The Express Tribune reported.Declaring his loyalty to Imran Khan, Afridi said, “I am a soldier of Imran Khan. Even if the whole world comes together, it cannot put a price on me.” He also urged supporters to send a message that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa belongs to Imran Khan.The chief minister had started the march from Lakki Marwat on Sunday after negotiations between PTI and the federal government failed to settle differences over the planned protest.Those talks, led by national assembly speaker Ayaz Sadiq, ended on Saturday without an agreement.The Pakistan government had asked PTI to call off the march, while the opposition sought assurances that its leaders would be permitted to meet long-imprisoned Imran Khan.
