Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi wonders at Imran Khan’s offer for talks

Wondering at the offer for talks to the country’s establishment by former prime minister and PTI founder Imran Khan, Interior Minister Syed Mohsin Naqvi on Wednesday said he had no idea how the former prime minister would have the courage to hold negotiations, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

Speaking to the media, he said, “Only the Almighty Allah knows who he would talk to.”

He said the government was trying to remove the MQM-P’s reservations over the power crisis. “I have conveyed the party’s concerns over the independent power producers (IPPs) to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who has talked to the energy minister on the subject,” he informed.

Naqvi said that the government was trying to chalk out a new strategy to deal with the issue.  

Responding to a question about the Jamaat-e-Islami’s sit-in presently underway at Liaquat Bagh, Rawalpindi, the minister said that a committee had been formed to hold negotiations with the party.  

Regarding the sit-in at Gwadar, he opined it was a provincial issue, and the government was fully assisting the government of Balochistan in calming down tensions in the area. “Our job is to assist; be it any province.”   

On a clash reported from Parachinar, Naqvi was of the view that it took place over a land dispute.

He said that those who had been injured in the incident had been shifted to hospitals in Peshawar and efforts were being made to improve the situation in the area. “There is a ceasefire in the area courtesy the efforts made by the government,” he said.

Dispelling the impression that there was any political instability in the country, the minister said that presently there was no political issue that could worry the government.

Naqvi said the prime minister and members of his cabinet were trying to deliver the goods.