Imran Khan's Party Clarifies: Jaishankar Not Invited to Protest

Party Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan reacted on Saturday, saying that 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), was quoted out of context.

Imprisoned former premier Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party on Saturday 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 reacted on Saturday, saying that 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), was quoted out of context.

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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 the 70-year-old policy of Pakistan about India is the backbone of the PTI party. "Peaceful protest is our constitutional right. No foreign dignitary, including from India, has been given any 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 emphasized that the party's struggle was an internal matter in which Jaishankar had no hand and claimed that 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.

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Saif's statement attracted stern condemnation from the ruling coalition and ministers referring to the invitation of the Indian foreign minister as "highly irresponsible," an act amounting to "enmity toward Pakistan." PTI has been protesting saying that the government must follow the constitution, demanding independence for the judiciary and lower prices of staple commodities in addition to the relief of their 72-year-old founder.

The PTI resolved at the overnight meeting that the protest would continue till and unless the party founder Khan asks his supporters to disperse. Conviction in a few of dozens of cases is also currently incarceration in Adiala Jail Rawalpindi, with arrest on August 5, 2023. 

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