• Premier invites opposition to re-join talks for peaceful resolution of issues, says protests hurt economy, exports
• Zardari, Shehbaz meeting favours talks with PTI before resorting to other measures
• Tallal urges party to end its protest, agree to counterterror plan to resume dialogue
• Gohar says dialogue with govt remained limited to offers, rues ‘no positive steps taken’
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday vowed to stop the PTI long march by any means, urging the opposition party to end its protest and sit with the government again to resolve all contentious issues peacefully.
Addressing the groundbreaking ceremony of the Kashmir Chowk underpass in the federal capital, the PM said the government had consulted its allies and decided to talk to the PTI to end political confrontation and resolve all issues jointly.
The government team held dialogue for two days in National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq’s chambers, hoping the politics of confrontation would end, but unfortunately it did not happen despite engagement with the PTI. “It seemed that the only aim of the PTI was to sabotage the dialogue,” he added.
PM Shehbaz said the protests and long marches affected the economy and created hindrances in exports, imports and manufacturing. “We collectively improved the economy in 2.5 years and reached macroeconomic stability. Now is the time for it to flourish,” the premier added.
He stressed that putting the economy in shambles and the lives of people in danger would not be allowed, adding that the law would take its course. “I will still say: come to your senses. Will your actions harm the country or benefit it? … End your long march and protests. When you end them, we will surely sit down with you,” the PM said.
Earlier, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said, without naming anyone, that people had to see for themselves which public representatives were working for their welfare and which ones were engaging in “negative politics”.
Responding to the premier’s remarks, PTI interim chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan said that talks remained “limited to offers”. “No positive step gets taken and it is a matter of great concern for us,” he said while speaking to reporters outside Adiala jail. He pointed out that it had been almost a year since the party’s last meeting with Imran on Oct 16, 2025, calling this “inhumane”.
He also criticised that Imran Khan was being denied meetings with his doctors, family, lawyers, and party, saying: “We did not want to sit for a photo session together with you.”
Shehbaz meets Zardari
In a separate meeting, PM Shehbaz and President Asif Ali Zardari favoured dialogue with the PTI before resorting to any legal or constitutional step. The meeting between the two took place at the Presidency after a reception hosted in honour of United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres. The president and the PM were briefed on the negotiations with the opposition leaders, a source said. Meanwhile, a source close to the president claimed that the PTI march would not enter Islamabad.
Conditions for talks
Minister of State for Interior Tallal Chaudhry, however, said the resumption of talks with the PTI depended on the opposition party calling off its protest march and agreeing to the implementation of the National Action Plan in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to curb terrorism.
He told a press conference that constitutional options were under consideration, but negotiations with the PTI would remain the first option.
Sharing details about talks with the PTI, the minister said consensus had been reached on terrorism-related matters and a wide range of political issues, including meetings with PTI founder Imran Khan and matters related to his health, before the opposition walked away.
Mr Chaudhry said after the first round, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi travelled to Lahore and briefed Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif that progress had been made on counter-terrorism cooperation.
The prime minister, he said, responded that national security and eliminating terrorism were more important than any political advantage and directed the team to provide as much political space as possible if the opposition agreed to fully cooperate on security.
He said the government’s position on counter-terrorism, including the KP government’s role in implementing NAP and its responsibilities concerning security forces, funding, and other measures, was presented on the first day.
According to him, talks initially made progress and both sides agreed on a broad framework covering political and security issues. The government had asked the opposition team to include a representative of the KP government or ensure Chief Minister Sohail Afridi was directly involved. The opposition delegation maintained it had authority to negotiate on behalf of both the party and the provincial government and assured it remained in contact with KP leadership, he said.
After the first round, some opposition representatives travelled to Peshawar to meet the chief minister and other leaders and assured the federal government that there was complete agreement on counter-terrorism points.
The second round began after those assurances, with the government believing that the security component had been settled. Talks then moved to political issues, including Imran Khan’s health, meetings with him and cases involving party members, and a draft agreement was prepared, he said, describing progress as potentially the beginning of broader political understanding and the agreement on counter-terrorism cooperation the most significant achievement. However, talks broke down at the final stage after opposition representatives held a separate discussion and contacted the KP chief minister again, he added.
Mr Chaudhry criticised the PTI for its purported opposition to the anti-terrorism measures by the Centre, saying terrorism had affected ordinary citizens, political workers, journalists, government employees and civil society across KP.
Published in Dawn, October 7th, 2026
