PM offered PTI political space in return for counterterrorism cooperation

Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry has said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif directed the government to provide maximum political space to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) if the party and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government agreed to fully cooperate with the federal government in the fight against terrorism.

Speaking at a press conference in Islamabad on Tuesday, Chaudhry said Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi had briefed the prime minister after the first round of government-opposition negotiations and told him that progress had been made on counterterrorism cooperation.

According to Chaudhry, the prime minister responded that national security and eliminating terrorism were more important than any political advantage. He said Shehbaz had instructed the government team to provide as much political space to the opposition as possible if it agreed to cooperate fully on security matters.

Chaudhry said the prime minister referred to the difficult economic decisions taken when Pakistan faced the risk of default, arguing that political parties could lose popularity while taking unpopular decisions but that protecting the country remained the priority.

The minister said the government’s position on counterterrorism was presented during the first day of negotiations. The discussions included the KP government’s role in implementing the National Action Plan and its responsibilities concerning security forces, funding and other counterterrorism measures.

According to Chaudhry, the talks initially made progress and both sides agreed on the broad framework of a possible settlement covering political and security-related issues.

He said the government had also asked the opposition negotiating team to include a representative of the KP government in the discussions or ensure that Chief Minister Sohail Afridi was directly involved.

The opposition delegation, however, maintained that it had the authority to negotiate on behalf of both the party and the provincial government, Chaudhry said. He added that the delegation assured the government it remained in contact with KP leaders.

After the first round, some opposition representatives travelled to Peshawar and met the KP chief minister and other senior leaders. Chaudhry claimed that the delegation subsequently gave the federal government assurances that there was complete agreement on the counterterrorism points.

He said the second round of negotiations began after those assurances were received, with the government believing that the security component of the agreement had effectively been settled.

According to the minister, the talks then moved towards political issues, including matters relating to PTI founder Imran Khan’s health, meetings with him and cases involving party members.

Chaudhry said a draft agreement was prepared and described the progress as potentially the beginning of a broader political understanding. He claimed that the government considered its agreement with PTI on counterterrorism cooperation the most significant achievement of the negotiations.

However, he said the talks broke down at the final stage after opposition representatives held a separate discussion and contacted the KP chief minister again.

Chaudhry questioned the PTI’s objections to federal counterterrorism measures, arguing that terrorism had affected ordinary citizens, political workers, journalists, government employees and civil society members across KP.

He also questioned the provincial government’s position on the use of drones by security forces. According to him, modern security operations require such technology to monitor and respond to attacks, including possible drone attacks launched by militants from across the Afghan border.

The minister argued that preventing security forces from using effective equipment could leave them vulnerable to attacks.

Chaudhry maintained that the fight against terrorism should not be treated as a political or provincial issue. He said cooperation between the federal and KP governments was necessary to implement the National Action Plan and improve security in the province.

The government and PTI negotiations ultimately ended without a final agreement, with both sides presenting different explanations for the breakdown. PTI has maintained that disagreements over the federal government’s proposed counterterrorism approach in KP were among the main reasons the talks failed.

The political dispute comes as PTI continues its long march towards Islamabad, led by KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, while the federal government has called for the protest to be called off and urged the opposition to return to dialogue.