IslamaBad: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Tuesday that the government is willing to talk with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, but it will not agree to demands he considers illegal or to any kind of pressure.
He made the remarks while speaking at a federal cabinet meeting in Islamabad.
“These days, PTI and its allies are talking about dialogue. I have repeatedly stated in the National Assembly that if PTI is serious about negotiations, the government is equally prepared,” the prime minister said.
However, Shehbaz said talks could only move forward if they focused on “legitimate issues.”
He stressed that political harmony among all parties was essential for Pakistan’s development and prosperity.
Meanwhile, Aleema Khan, sister of PTI founder Imran Khan, has rejected the idea of dialogue from the party’s side.
Speaking to reporters outside the Rawalpindi anti-terrorism court a day earlier, she said any party leader advocating talks was neither aligned with Imran Khan nor with PTI.
She also said she was unaware of the communiqué issued after a two-day conference of the Pakistan Constitution Protection Movement and had not been formally informed about it.
On Monday, the opposition alliance released a joint declaration after two days of meetings in Islamabad.
The declaration included demands for a probe into the February 24 general elections and called for dialogue with the government.
Reacting to the opposition’s demands, Federal Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz said the government was not opposed to dialogue.
The Pakistan Peoples Party, a key coalition partner in the federal government, also supported talks but with conditions.
PPP Secretary Nayyer Bukhari told The Express Tribune that dialogue would only be meaningful if confidence-building measures were taken.
“They want dialogue with some other quarters,” he said.