Talks with PTI only after Imran’s ‘clear message’: Khawaja Asif

ISLAMABAD: Terming the present Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leadership “powerless”, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Monday said that negotiations can’t be initiated until a clear message is received from party’s incarcerated founder Imran Khan.

Talking to Geo News, the defence minister said: “Current PTI leadership has nothing in their hands [lack of decision-making powers].” The PTI founder, earlier this month, warned the government of launching a “civil disobedience” movement if his demands, including the judicial probe into the crackdown on party supporters, are not met. He also formed a negotiation committee to hold talks with the government.

Raising questions over the viability of talks with PTI, the minister said that the embattled party’s present leadership was not on the same page, adding that there were differences within the ranks of the embattled party. “They all are giving statements against each other.”

Stressing the need for a “clear message” from the jailed PTI founder to allow the party members to hold talks with the government, the minister said: “They all [PTI leaders] receive instruction from the PTI founder.”

The PTI founder should ask the incumbent government that he wanted to hold negotiations with the government. Speaking about other matters, the minister said that Pakistan is a sovereign country and has good ties with the US.

“US extends support to many of our financial institutions from time to time,” he added.The minister asked: “If the US was angry with us, could we have secured the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme?

In September, the IMF Executive Board approved a $7 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) for Pakistan, with the first tranche of $1.1 billion.To another question, Asif said: “We have just one issue with Afghanistan — the soil should not be used by [banned] Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

According to reports, the TTP has been using Afghan soil for cross-border attacks inside Pakistan since the Taliban takeover of Kabul in August 2021.Pakistan witnessed a spike in terror attacks on security forces and civilians — especially in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan — since the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan following the withdrawal of US and NATO forces.

As per a report by the Centre for Research and Security Studies (CRSS), the third quarter (July-September) of 2024 saw a sharp increase in fatalities of terrorist violence and counter-terrorism campaigns, with a 90% surge in violence.

A total of 722 people were killed, including civilians, security personnel, and outlaws, while 615 others were wounded in as many as 328 incidents recorded during the period under review.