&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "Pakistan PM offers talks to Imran Khan supporters marching towards Islamabad; PTI calls it ‘symbolic’")
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has renewed his offer to hold talks with jailed former premier Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), but has made it clear that negotiations can begin only after the opposition calls off its long march towards Islamabad.
The offer comes amid a fresh escalation in political tensions, with thousands of PTI supporters continuing their march through Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The government has warned that prolonged protests and sit-ins could further affect Pakistan’s already fragile economic recovery.
Addressing the PTI leadership on Tuesday, Sharif urged the opposition to end its protest before returning to the negotiating table.
“I still ask them to come to their senses. End your long marches and sit-ins. Once you end them, we will certainly sit down with you and talk,” he said.
The latest appeal followed several rounds of talks between the government and the opposition that failed to resolve their differences. Discussions held in the chambers of National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq recently ended without an agreement. Sharif has accused the PTI of altering issues that had already been discussed and negotiating in bad faith.
PTI dismisses offer as ‘merely symbolic’
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PTI chairman Gohar Ali Khan rejected the government’s latest offer, saying it remained “merely symbolic” and that no concrete step had been taken apart from extending an invitation for talks, local media reported.
Speaking to reporters in Rawalpindi, Gohar also raised the issue of access to Imran Khan, saying PTI leaders had not been permitted to meet the party founder for a year. He said their last meeting with Khan took place in October last year.
Gohar’s remarks came only hours after Sharif again called on the PTI to abandon its march and sit-in before negotiations could resume.
Speaking at an event in Islamabad, Sharif said the politics of long marches and sit-ins could have an adverse impact on 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.
PTI march moves through Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
The latest standoff began on Sunday when PTI supporters set out on a long march demanding Imran Khan’s release. The protest had initially been planned for September 27 but was later postponed as authorities prepared for a possible mobilisation in Islamabad.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi on Monday called on PTI workers to join the march as the convoy reached Kohat.
The continuing march has added to the political confrontation between the PTI and the government, with Sharif insisting that the opposition must first end its street agitation before the two sides can return to formal negotiations.
