Gohar said the PTI had consistently supported Pakistan’s diplomatic efforts, particularly to ease tensions between Iran and the United States.
RAWALPINDI/LAHORE:
PTI Chairman Advocate Gohar Ali Khan on Tuesday expressed cautious optimism about the resumption of political dialogue, hoping that talks with the government can begin within the next month to month and a half, while emphasizing that significant progress depends on internal reconciliation and access to the party’s jailed founder.
Speaking to the media at Dahgal Naka on Adiala Road, Gohar said that while Pakistan’s role in facilitating international peace efforts, particularly between Iran and the United States, was commendable, similar efforts were urgently needed within the country.
He said the authority to negotiate lay with Mahmood Khan Achakzai, adding that no formal talks or meetings were currently taking place.
He urged the country’s leaders, including the prime minister, the army chief and the chief justice, to recognize that sustainable progress required inclusion. “We are also citizens of this country,” he said, warning that stability at home was a prerequisite for any significant role abroad.
Gohar said the PTI had consistently supported Pakistan’s diplomatic efforts, particularly to ease tensions between Iran and the United States, even canceling a planned public meeting in solidarity with national interests.
However, he criticized restrictions on meetings with party founder Imran Khan, calling it unacceptable that such a senior leader was denied access to medical and family care.
Gohar maintained that while no diplomatic breakthrough had yet been made in the Islamabad talks, there had also been no collapse, and expressed hope that future rounds could lead to a lasting ceasefire.
He stressed that Pakistan’s growing diplomatic stature must be accompanied by internal cohesion, noting that “if a ceasefire is negotiated abroad, there must also be a ceasefire at home.”
Meanwhile, in a separate development, PTI founder Imran Khan’s lawyer Salman Safdar claimed that the jailed leader was being held in prolonged solitary confinement, calling it “torture”.
He expressed serious concerns about his health, particularly his eye condition, which he said has not shown any improvement.
Addressing a press conference at the LHCBA, Safdar said he met the PTI founder only once this year, for 65 minutes, during which the former prime minister repeatedly complained that he was kept in solitary confinement for 22 hours a day.
He alleged that the conditions include lack of access to television, books, communication and even restricted access to legal assistance.
