Islamabad, October 4, 2026: Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Sunday declared that talks between the federal government and the opposition had collapsed, blaming Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi for “sabotaging” the negotiations.
Addressing a press conference in Islamabad after an hours-long second round of talks ended without a breakthrough, Naqvi said the opposition’s negotiating team had remained reasonable but Afridi was solely responsible for the failure of the dialogue.
“Their team was reasonable. I am repeating that I will not blame anyone else for all of this collapsing. There is only one person responsible for the entire collapse, and that is the KP chief minister,” he said.
Naqvi warned that Afridi would be held responsible if the PTI’s planned long march resulted in any loss of life.
He also warned PTI supporters against violating an Islamabad High Court order concerning protests, saying the government would take legal action against anyone found violating the order.
The IHC, in an order issued on September 14, had ruled that no political party or its leadership had the “lawful right to occupy public roads, highways, interchanges, toll plazas and buildings in Islamabad”.
The interior minister stressed that the federal government had not asked the PTI to postpone its October 4 long march.
“When we had the first meeting, we told them that the long march was not an issue for us,” Naqvi said, adding that PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari had earlier suggested postponing the march to lower political tensions.
Naqvi said the government had offered the PTI the option of holding a protest but would not permit any attempt to create disorder.
“We gave them this option. Now, if they violate the orders, whether they are workers or politicians, whether they are protesting within KP or outside KP, we will pursue them one by one,” he said.
He added that the government wanted to bring an end to what he described as repeated attempts to create disturbances in Islamabad.
Counterterrorism dispute
According to Naqvi, the negotiations involved two separate agreements — one covering political matters and another concerning counterterrorism.
He said the two sides had reached complete agreement on the political issues, with the objective of bringing the KP government on board regarding counterterrorism.
However, he claimed that the KP government subsequently refused to endorse the agreed points.
“If we had known that no one in this committee was authorised to give a commitment on behalf of the KP government, or that the KP government would veto all these things, we would not have held the negotiations in this form in the first place,” he said.
Naqvi criticised the KP government over its handling of terrorism, saying that while the province was facing a security crisis, some provincial ministers were making statements against the army and were allegedly absent from funerals of security personnel.
He also rejected any suggestion that political leaders should dictate operational decisions to the military.
“If there is a military operation, would you tell the army which gun to use or which drone to use? This happens nowhere in the world,” he said.
The minister said he had asked Afridi on Saturday to bring the KP government into the negotiations because, according to him, the problems under discussion were largely linked to the provincial government.
He said the opposition delegation subsequently held talks with the KP chief minister for around four hours, after which Afridi gave them his feedback and authorised them to proceed with whatever was agreed with him.
Naqvi, however, accused Afridi of subsequently changing the draft agreement.
He said the KP chief minister became active after receiving the draft around 9pm, repeatedly sought amendments and eventually presented a substantially different draft around midnight or 12:30am.
The minister also criticised the appointment of what he described as “immature and inexperienced” people to positions of authority, saying such decisions could have serious consequences for the country.
Naqvi praised the government’s negotiating team for working continuously for around 12 hours and making what he described as sincere efforts to reach an agreement.
Government’s counterterrorism demands
Earlier, Naqvi said the KP government had initially agreed to sign a written agreement and submit an implementation plan within 72 hours covering counterterrorism measures.
The commitments he said the PTI had agreed to included reconsidering the Police Act 2026 in view of the security situation, preventing terrorists from operating freely or establishing safe havens in KP, and unequivocally condemning the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan and other terrorist groups.
The proposed commitments also included supporting the national policy on Afghan refugees, including repatriation and dismantling Afghan camps in KP; having no contact with the interim Afghan government; increasing funding for counterterrorism operations and police; taking full provincial ownership of counterterrorism measures; strengthening cooperation with the armed forces; addressing security issues in former Fata and the merged districts; and implementing the National Action Plan.
“Last night, during the final phase of negotiations, the KP government backed out of these commitments. Security must not be politicised while the province is at war,” Naqvi said.
PTI’s demands
The negotiations at Parliament House began after 4pm on Saturday and continued into the early hours of Sunday, with the PTI’s planned October 4 march to Islamabad among the central issues.
Shortly before 3am, Senate Opposition Leader Allama Raja Nasir Abbas said the talks had failed to produce a breakthrough. He said the main disagreements concerned jailed PTI founder Imran Khan’s meetings with his personal physicians and the approach towards terrorism in KP.
Minister of State for Interior Tallal Chaudhry, however, said the talks primarily failed because the KP government could not assure the federal government of future cooperation in the fight against terrorism.
Following the government’s allegations, CM Afridi shared the draft he had sent to the opposition negotiating team, saying that none of its demands was unconstitutional or illegal.
The PTI draft called for meetings between the prime minister and opposition leaders in both houses of Parliament to discuss political, national, constitutional, legal and democratic issues, with progress to be made within two months.
It also proposed the formation of a joint political negotiating committee comprising representatives of the ruling coalition, PPP and opposition parties.
On Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi, the draft sought guarantees of their legal, human and medical rights, including access to personal or nominated physicians, as well as meetings with family members, lawyers and associates in accordance with jail rules and the law.
The PTI also called for appeals against prisoners’ sentences to be taken up or completed within 10 days where legally possible, and sought the expeditious release of women political prisoners, including Yasmin Rashid and Bushra Bibi, on humanitarian grounds.
On terrorism, the draft proposed continuous consultation between the federal and provincial governments and regular meetings within 72 hours to formulate a joint strategy for peace and security in KP.
Afridi said the PTI would announce cancellation of the long march if the federal government provided written assurances for implementing the agreed measures.
However, he said the PTI would retain the right to hold “peaceful, democratic and lawful protest” if the government violated the assurances or constitutional and legal requirements.
