Rana Sanaullah, adviser to the prime minister on political affairs, said on Monday that PTI government talks could restart if the party gives assurances of “positive progress” on the counterterrorism policy. The latest round of negotiations between the two sides ended in deadlock early Sunday, and each side blamed the other for the breakdown.
Blame Traded After the Deadlock
On Sunday, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi accused Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi of trying to sabotage the negotiations between the PTI and the federal government.
PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja offered a different explanation. He said the talks failed mainly because the federal government insisted that the provincial government own all anti-terrorism actions it had started unilaterally in KP.
Sanaullah: Federation Sets Terrorism Policy
Speaking on a private TV channel, Sanaullah said the Constitution gives the federal government the authority to frame terrorism policy, and provincial governments are bound to follow it. “The provincial government will have to play its role in this policy against terrorism at all costs,” he said.
He said the military and political leadership had resolved to take the fight against terrorism to its conclusion. According to him, political issues, the health of the PTI founder and matters concerning meetings had already been settled.
Asked about the founder’s medical care, Sanaullah said the government had agreed to a meeting between the PTI founder and his personal doctors. He added that the party had been told to approach the court on the matter of personal physicians.
Dispute Over “Consensus” on Policy
Sanaullah claimed that PTI representatives first agreed the federal government would formulate the policy, then later demanded that it be based on “consensus.”
He called the PTI’s stance “constitutionally and legally incorrect,” saying that framing policy on external aggression is the federal government’s authority. Strategic decisions to counter such aggression, he said, are not made in an open forum. The provincial government, he added, has no right to force the federation to build consensus on the matter.
Afghanistan and Cross-Border Terrorism
On cross-border terrorism involving Afghanistan, Sanaullah said talks with the Taliban had gone on for years. Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and China had also held negotiations with the group without reaching an agreement, he noted.
He said those involved in terrorist attacks were trained in Afghanistan and controlled from there. He also claimed that Israelis were providing technical training at militant camps in Afghanistan, adding that the Afghan Taliban had not used such drones before.
Turning to the long march led by KP Chief Minister Afridi, Sanaullah said between 3,000 and 4,000 people had gathered when it set off from Lakki Marwat.
PTI Says It Is Ready to Talk
PTI leader Asad Qaiser said the party was ready to hold talks with the government at any time and had already put its issues before it. “The government has to decide what policy it adopts and where it takes the situation,” he said.
Qaiser said the party had decided to withdraw from the assemblies if governor’s rule or an emergency were imposed in KP, or if CM Afridi were disqualified.
He described the situation in Balochistan, KP and Kashmir as serious. He alleged that ministers and lawmakers could not even be protected in KP, where, he claimed, they were being picked up.
Qaiser also alleged that the provincial government’s authority and rights were being denied. The chief minister, who is responsible for law and order, was not being allowed to exercise his powers, he said.