Pakistan: Imran Khan''s party rejects PM Shehbaz Sharif offer to resume talks

Speaking on Geo News programme Capital Talk, PTI top leader and Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Omar Ayub said: "We reject Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif''s offer [to resume dialogue]".

Reiterating the party''s demand to release PTI''s "political prisoners", Ayub said, "Our demands were clear."

Senator Irfan Siddiqui, the spokesperson for the government''s negotiation committee, said that PTI showcased their non-democratic and non-political mentality by ending the talks, Geo News reported.

"PTI lost a good opportunity towards [fulfillment] of their demands," he added.

Earlier, Shehbaz Sharif has expressed willingness to resume talks with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and offered to constitute a parliamentary committee to address ongoing issues, The Express Tribune reported

During the federal cabinet meeting, Sharif recalled earlier talks with PTI, which started with the formation of a committee after PTI''s offer. He said that Imran Khan-founded party had submitted written demands through National Assembly Speaker, which the government was expected to respond to in writing. However, PTI cancelled the scheduled meeting on January 28.

Shehbaz Sharif stressed that it was logical to respond to the written demands in writing. He recounted that after the elections in 2018, when the opposition entered Parliament with black armbands, Pakistan''s then-PM Imran Khan had initiated constituting a parliamentary committee to probe concerns related to election.

He said that PTI never constituted a judicial commission but rather a committee, according to The Express Tribune report. Pakistan PM called on PTI to resume talks and work together to form a new committee to probe elections held in 2018 and 2024 and bring out the facts.

Pakistan National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq had invited PTI and government representatives for the fourth round of talks on Tuesday. However, PTI representatives did not attend the meeting.

Later, the Pakistan government announced that its negotiation committee would wait until January 31, and if PTI changes its decision to end the talks, the process could restart. Talks between the government and the opposition began in December to address political tensions. Since then, the two sides have met thrice, Express Tribune reported. (ANI)