By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: The main opposition party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, agreed on Wednesday to sit down with the ruling coalition to resolve their long-running differences, but only on the condition that its founder and former prime minister, Imran Khan, is released from prison.
The overture, delivered on the floor of the National Assembly, marked a notable departure for the PTI, which had repeatedly rejected any dialogue with the government and denounced its leaders in public as “thieves and dacoits.” Party officials had insisted that negotiations could begin only after a “level playing field” was created through street protests.
PTI lawmaker Ali Muhammad Khan laid out the new position during proceedings in the lower house. “Let us sit together to jointly resolve our problems in an atmosphere in which Imran Khan is released from jail and Mian Sahib (PML-N President Nawaz Sharif) also comes forward for dialogue,” he said. Khan told lawmakers that the leader of the opposition, Mehmood Achakzai, had received an invitation from Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to begin talks.
The PTI, he said, would fully back Achakzai in any such negotiations. “The entire PTI will support him so that the talk process will pave the way for political stability and resolution of our problems,” Khan added. He suggested the dialogue could also open the door to the release of Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, who are both imprisoned. The lawmaker stressed that the opposition had a record of cooperation with the government on matters of national and international importance. He recalled the party’s expression of solidarity during last year’s military confrontation with India in May 2025 and noted the joint welcome extended Wednesday to a high-level Chinese delegation visiting to mark the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Pakistan and China.
The Chinese delegation, led by Cai Dafeng, vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of the People’s Republic of China, and accompanied by Chinese Ambassador Jiang Zaidong, was received warmly by both treasury and opposition benches. National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq described the occasion as “a special occasion as we are celebrating the 75th anniversary of the establishment of the diplomatic relations between Pakistan and China.”
Opposition lawmakers had previously announced they would boycott the day’s proceedings to protest Khan’s continued imprisonment. Yet they remained in the chamber for the duration of the Chinese visit, led by Achakzai. Achakzai himself welcomed the delegation. Once the visitors departed, the opposition members left the house as well.
The government’s latest invitation for talks follows an earlier offer from Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in December 2025. At the time, Sharif said dialogue could proceed only on “legitimate matters.” The PTI had rebuffed that overture, insisting that any negotiations must follow a sustained agitation campaign aimed at forcing the government to ensure fair political conditions.
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