'I don't have any info regarding this': Interior minister on PTI-establishment deal

• "Ask them who are involved in deal," Naqvi on PTI's efforts for talks.
• Shehryar Afridi claims party will hold dialogue with COAS, DG ISI.
• PTI Chairman Gohar Khan says Imran Khan is ready to 'forgive'.
  

ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi Monday said that he is unaware of any deal between the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the establishment.

"Ask them who are involved in the deal. I have no information regarding this," Naqvi said in response to a question regarding the PTI-establishment deal while speaking to the media in Islamabad.

His remarks come as purported "talks" between the PTI and the establishment have been the talk of the town in recent days.

The narrative gained strength after PTI leader Shehryar Afridi while speaking during Geo News programme Naya Pakistan, said that the party will hold "dialogue with the chief of army staff (COAS) and the director general of the Inter-Services Intelligence (DG ISI) soon" instead of talking to "rejected people" who reached the parliament via "Form 47".  

"My leader doesn’t want any NRO. We want dialogue for the betterment of Pakistan," Afridi said adding that PTI founder Imran Khan wanted to engage all stakeholders for a better country but he did not receive any response.

However, the PTI leader's remarks were not the first instance reflecting the party's intention to extend an olive branch as previously Khan himself has expressed his willingness to engage in dialogue.

"For the last 19 months I've been saying that I’m ready to talk [...] I'm a politician," the former prime minister told journalists in Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail in January.

Nevertheless, the ruling coalition comprising the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has censured the PTI's seemingly taking a "U-turn" on its policies calling it out for its previous hardline stance against negotiations.

'No backdoor negotiations taking place'

Speaking to the media outside Adiala jail after meeting incarcerated party founder, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Khan ruled out any backdoor negotiations with anyone.

"[Although] PTI founder has nominated some party leader for holdings talks, no dialogue is taking place as of now," Gohar told the media today.

On the issue of the chairmanship of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), the PTI chairman said that party leader Sher Afzal Marwat's name is included in the list of those who have been nominated for the said post and that consultations are underway and that the name will be finalised by tomorrow.

Commenting on the prospects of allowing those back into the party who had parted ways with the PTI, Gohar stressed that the party founder has the discretion to decide on the matter.