Federal Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi has arrived in Peshawar and held an important meeting with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi. During the meeting, they discussed the overall situation in the province, law and order, political matters, and other important issues.
Before travelling to Peshawar, the interior minister addressed a press conference in Lahore and shared details of negotiations between the government and the opposition.
Naqvi said the opposition delegation participated in the talks in good faith and that a “sound agreement” had been prepared. He said the draft was presented to President Asif Ali Zardari, while Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was also briefed on the matter.
However, according to Naqvi, the final draft was changed after it had been presented to the president. The interior minister said the draft was revised four times during the negotiations. He added that the government had sought cooperation from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government in efforts to combat terrorism.
Naqvi said that after the draft was finalised, KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi rejected it, saying, “We do not accept this.” He questioned why Afridi did not participate in the negotiations himself if he was to make the final decision.
Naqvi also clarified that the government’s negotiating team had not asked the opposition to postpone its long march. The interior minister said the government team had made sincere efforts to resolve the issue and had agreed to the political terms proposed during the talks. He added that the government’s only demand was joint efforts to combat terrorism in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
According to Naqvi, the KP government failed to demonstrate seriousness about the terrorism issue and refused to discuss cooperation in the fight against terrorism.