Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Thursday denied holding negotiations with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) regarding its Islamabad protest, denying party founder Imran Khan's claims of receiving an offer from the government for talks.
Speaking to media persons after attending a hearing at the Islamabad High Court, the interior minister said: "No talks are taking place as negotiations are not held under threats."
Naqvi said that he was in favour of talks, however, holding talks after giving threats is not possible.
The development comes after the former prime minister said he had received an “offer” via top party leaders to postpone his much-hyped Islamabad protest, slated for November 24.
The PTI founder said that he was told “everything will be alright” if he accepted the offer. "[I] received an offer via Barrister Gohar and [KP CM] Gandapur to postpone the protest and everything will be alright," he said.
"No negotiations are taking place with the PTI founder," the interior minister said, adding that the PTI should inform us if it wants to hold talks.
However, he added, the negotiations were not possible with the PTI if it announced staging sit-ins.
"The nation should decide on the protests because why do they hold protests on specific dates?" he asked referring to the upcoming visit of foreign delegates.
Naqvi further said that whatever the court orders, they will implement it.
The security czar warned the PTI supporters against gathering at D-Chowk in the federal capital, saying the authorities would detain the violators like before.
"Protest in your province as you wish, you will not be allowed to come to Islamabad and protest," he added.
The interior minister earlier attended a court hearing at the IHC on the petition filed by the Traders Association President Asad Aziz regarding the PTI protests, saying their business was being affected.
During the hearing, Naqvi apprised the court that Belarus' head of state along with his 65-member delegation will be visiting the country on November 24, hence, they will have to secure the Red Zone.
"They select those days for protests when a delegation visits the country," Naqvi told the court.
The Islamabad chief justice said that blocking the roads by placing containers or shutting down the internet is not a solution to the problem.
To this, Naqvi said he was also completely against placing containers.
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