• PTI claims counterterrorism policy, bar on meeting with Imran spoilt talks
• Naqvi singles out Afridi; claims govt agreed on political matters for sake of security policy
• Tarar, Asif allege terrorism flourishing in KP due to PTI

ISLAMABAD: After talks between the government and the opposition ended without headway, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Sunday accused Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi of ‘sabotaging’ negotiations while the PTI pinned the dialogue’s failure on the rulers’ inflexibility to entertain its demands.

The two rounds of talks held on Friday and Saturday did not yield positive results, with counterterrorism policies and access to Imran Khan emerging as two major sticking points.

In a statement on Sunday, the PTI said it wanted immediate access to party chief Imran Khan for consultations, and even agreed to forgo other demands in return for a meeting with Mr Khan. However, the government declined to make access to Mr Khan part of the proposed agreement, the opposition party claimed.

Another deadlock was terrorism in KP. The federal government asked the KP government to support its counterterrorism measures and support emergency measures within 72 hours in the merged tribal districts, the PTI said.

Instead, the PTI proposed that authorised representatives of the federal and KP governments meet within 72 hours to develop a clear, comprehensive and mutually agreed strategy for peace and counterterrorism, the statement added. The PTI also proposed consultations with political parties represented in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, elected representatives, tribal elders and relevant stakeholders for an effective policy.

The PTI said the health and medical treatment of Imran Khan was also raised as a matter of fundamental importance. The negotiating team sought immediate access to him, his transfer to Shifa International Hospital, and the constitution of an appropriate medical board with the participation of his personal physician to ensure proper examination, diagnosis and treatment. According to the PTI, the government agreed only to restore meetings between Imran Khan and his family members and lawyers from Tuesday, but did not agree to additional measures.

The PTI said the government, instead of blaming the PTI, should explain its inflexibility on the opposition’s demands for access to Mr Khan, medical care, and a consultative approach to tackle counterterrorism in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Separately, PTI leader Salman Akram Raja said the primary reason for the failure was disagreement on antiterrorism actions in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Mr Raja said the opposition stood firm on its principled position that anti-terrorism actions should be based on an agreement between the federal government and the KP government, and would be framed in consultation with stakeholders.

‘Afridi sabotaged talks’

Meanwhile, Mohsin Naqvi, in his Islamabad press conference, singled out CM Afridi for the failure of talks, saying the CM changed the agreement.

According to Mr Naqvi, the PTI had agreed to reconsider the police act amendments, stop terrorists from finding “safe havens”, unequivocal condemnation of terrorist groups, support the national policy on Afghan refugees, no contact with the Afghanistan government, substantial funding for counterterrorism operations, full provincial ownership of counterterrorism measures and stronger cooperation with the armed forces, decisions on counterterrorism in the former Fata and merged districts, and the implementation of the National Action Plan.

“Last night, during the final phase of negotiations, the KP government backed out of these commitments. Security must not be politicised while the province is at war,” he said.

According to the interior minister, there were two agreements to be reached — one was a “main agreement” that would cover whatever was being decided with the opposition parties, and the other was regarding counterterrorism.

“If we had known that no one in this committee was authorised to give a commitment on behalf of the KP government, or that the KP government would veto all these things, we would not have held the negotiations in this form in the first place,” he remarked.

The minister said the two sides had agreed “100 per cent on political things” so that the KP government could come on board with the Centre on the counterterrorism issues.

Mr Naqvi detailed Saturday’s developments: “I requested CM Afridi to onboard the KP government because, definitely, the problems we are facing are coming from the KP government. He said, ‘Okay, I am going now,’ so we postponed the meeting until tomorrow. All members agreed to the postponement.”

“They (opposition team) held negotiations with CM Afridi for four hours. The KP CM gave them his feedback and gave them the mandate that whatever they finalise with him, they should proceed with it.”

The minister accused CM Afridi of changing the draft of the agreement despite what had been agreed to earlier.

“Their team was reasonable. I am repeating that I will not blame anyone else for all of this collapsing. There is only one person responsible for the entire collapse, and that is the KP chief minister,” the interior minister declared.

He said those supporting the PTI leader should “realise that they will be committing contempt of court, and we will take legal action against them to every possible extent”.

Notably, he stressed that there “had been no request from our side for the long march to be postponed”. Mr Naqvi explained that the PTI was given the option to hold a protest but the government would not allow an attempt to “create a disturbance”.

“We gave them this option. Now, if they violate the orders, whether they are workers or politicians, whether they are protesting within KP or outside KP, we will pursue them one by one. This time, we want to ensure that this repeated episode of creating a disturbance in Islamabad comes to an end,” he warned.

Tarar rails against PTI

Similarly, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said the PTI representatives came for talks but were unwilling to abandon their “double standards and hypocrisy”. “PTI is not ready to give up its contradictory policies and its leaders are experts in taking U-turns,” he said in a statement.

Mr Tarar alleged that the provincial government’s policy was effectively promoting terrorism, adding that the PTI leadership would have to decide whether it stood with Pakistan or Afghanistan. He blamed the PTI government’s “double policy” for the loss of lives in the province, saying innocent children and rescue workers were being killed while the provincial leadership was allegedly focused on securing the release of a prisoner.

Likewise, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif alleged that PTI had been facilitating terrorism in Khyber Pakht­unkhwa, which resulted in insecurity in the province. In a statement posted on his social media account, the minister said the nation would “hold the KP government accountable” for the martyrdom of civilians and military personnel due to terrorism.

Mansoor Malik and Amjad Mahmood in Lahore and Syed Irfan Raza in Islamabad contributed to this report

Published in Dawn, October 5th, 2026