Shehbaz Sharif

Responding to Khan's lengthy tweet, Sharif said: "Leave the fabrications here and there. Join the investigation and account for your corruption. End of the matter." Early Monday morning, Khan posted on Twitter the details of the alleged London plan, which according to him, has been devised to keep him out of the politics to delay and rig elections.

"The judiciary has become an iron shield for Imran Khan," the prime minister said, highlighting that the judiciary stands divided. PM Shehbaz, while addressing a cabinet meeting in Islamabad, questioned the judiciary about the treatment given to other politicians in the country, Geo News reported.

The Shehbaz Sharif-led government has been struggling to convince the IMF board on its compliance of all the pre-conditions for the revival of the Extended Fund Facility (EFF), which has led to a delay in the signing of the staff level agreement, causing serious damage to the country's economic condition.

Berating the PTI chief, the Sharif said that Khan's act of routinely maligning and threatening the Pakistan Army and the intelligence agency for the sake of petty political gains is highly condemnable, Geo News reported. "His levelling of allegations without any proof against General Faisal Naseer and officers of our intelligence agency cannot be allowed and will not be tolerated," PM Shehbaz said.

As per the leaked documents, Khar said that Pakistan should avoid appeasing the West and that the country's desire to maintain a strategic partnership with the US would sacrifice the full benefits of its original strategic partnership with the long-term friendly nation China, Geo News reported.

On Thursday, the first round of formal talks between the two sides took place in which, designated delegations from both parties sat across the table at Parliament House in Islamabad. The decision to have table talks is being seen as a major breakthrough and first positive step from both sides to put an end to the persisting political chaos in the country, which is directly impacting the economically challenged position of the country.

Officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that the PM decided to seek a trust vote after holding consultations with lawmakers of the ruling alliance at a luncheon held on Thursday, Geo News reported. Shehbaz Sharif was supposed to take the vote on Wednesday afternoon but the exercise was deferred till Thursday, as per a report in The News.

"The function of the Supreme Court is not that of a panchayat, but to give judgments according to the Constitution and law," Sharif said in a televised address after meeting his coalition partners, The News reported. The premier had called the meeting of the coalition partners on Wednesday, as the deadline for talks with PTI, ordered by the Supreme Court, nears.

The coalition partners of the incumbent government have proposed Sharif to seek a vote of confidence from the Lower House of the Parliament amid Supreme Court's deadline regarding general elections in Punjab, Samaa TV reported. The primer will hold consultation with the Cabinet regarding the vote of confidence.

According to statistics issued by the Economic Affairs Division, the country received foreign loans worth $7.76 billion during July-March of fiscal 2022-23 (July 2022-June 2023), which is nearly $5 billion short of the $12.7 billion it received in the same period of the previous fiscal, The Express Tribune reported.