Jahangir Tareen, Ishaq Dar meet in London

LONDON: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s former secretary general Jahangir Tareen and Ishaq Dar met here on Friday evening.

Ishaq Dar and Jahangir Tareen met at the Park Lane Hotel, accompanied by two others who were not identified.

The News learnt about the meeting from two credible sources who were present at the hotel when Tareen arrived with two other people, followed by Ishaq Dar with another person after about 25 minutes.

Jahangir Tareen’s son Ali Tareen was also seen in the same hotel around the time of the meeting. The credible sources shared that Tareen, Dar and others held talks for about two hours, had snacks and then left.

Ishaq Dar was seen walking towards his car at the end of the meeting while Tareen stayed at the seven-star hotel. Tareen lives two hours out of London at his Newbury countryside home but stays at the luxury hotel when in London for treatment or business meetings.

It’s understood that the two sides discussed the upcoming no-confidence vote on Sunday and election of the chief minister of Punjab. Nothing is finalised yet but it’s hoped that Tareen is likely to work with PMLN in future although he has said that all options are open.

The News revealed two days ago that Ishaq Dar and Jahangir Tareen had spoken over phone. Sources on both sides confirmed that Ishaq Dar and Jahangir Tareen spoke on phone for about half an hour where they discussed the current political situation of Pakistan. They also discussed possible ways of cooperation at the Punjab Assembly level and the Centre.

Jahangir Tareen’s group has played an important role in the politics of Centre and Punjab in recent months. When the opposition was suppressed and there was not much public agitation from the opposition, these were Tareen’s loyalists at the Centre and Punjab who raised their protest in defence of Tareen and against the government actions when Shehzad Akbar - acting under the instructions of Prime Minister Imran Khan - attempted to get Tareen and his son Ali Tareen arrested and put women of the Tareen family under state surveillance. Tareen’s group has since then largely stood by him and now holds significant sway at the level of Punjab and Centre.