Imran Khan's party clarifies stance, says Jaishankar not invited to protest

Peshawar: Jailed former premier Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf has distanced itself from a party leader's invitation to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to join its protest, asserting that no foreign country has a role in its political struggle.

Party Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan said on Saturday the remarks by Muhammad Ali Saif, an advisor on information to the chief minister of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province ruled by Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), were taken out of context.

Saif said the party plans to “invite” Jaishankar to join its protests here, attracting backlash from the ruling coalition.

“PTI will invite Jaishankar, Indian External Affairs Minister, to come and join PTI’s protest and speak to our people and see that Pakistan is a strong democracy where everyone has a right to protest,” Saif said sarcastically in response to a question on Saturday.

Barrister Gohar Khan said Pakistan's 70-year-old policy about India is the backbone of the PTI party.

"Peaceful protest is our constitutional right. No foreign dignitary, including from India, has been given an invitation to PTI to attend the protest. No foreign dignitary is allowed to make any comment on our internal matters," he said.

"No foreign country, including India, has any role in PTI's political struggle," he added.

He emphasised that the party's struggle was an internal issue in which Jaishankar had no involvement and said Saif's statement created a wrong impression that the party invited the Indian minister to attend the party's ongoing protest call.

Jaishankar will attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation's Council of Heads of Government (SCO-CHG) meeting in Pakistan on October 15 and 16.

Saif's statement drew criticism from the ruling coalition and ministers called the invitation to the Indian foreign minister “highly irresponsible”, amounting to “enmity towards Pakistan.” The PTI has been staging protests, claiming that the government should adhere to the constitution, pressing for the judiciary's independence and against rising inflation apart from demanding the release of its 72-year-old founder.

In an overnight meeting, the PTI decided that the demonstration would go on until the party founder Khan asked his supporters to end it.

Currently incarcerated at the Adilala Jail in Rawalpindi, Khan was arrested on August 5, 2023. Facing dozens of cases, he has been convicted in a few of them.