Sanaullah says 'won't accept pressure' from US to release Imran

Adviser to the Prime Minister on Political and Public Affairs Rana Sanaullah on Tuesday ruled out any possibility that the government would accept any pressure from the new US administration led by President-elect Donald Trump to release Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan.

When questioned about potential pressure from the Trump administration in view of its loyalist Richard Grenell's tweet demanding Imran's release, Sanaullah replied: "We would not work under pressure of Donald Trump [...] if any intervention is made then we would consider it as interference in our sovereignty."

Grenell, who has been picked by Trump as "envoy for special missions" earlier this month, had called for release of former premier Imran — who remains incarcerated at the Adiala jail since August last year — via writing "Release Imran Khan" on X last month.

The premier's aide, who is also one of the members of the government's negotiation committee, further said that they did not commence dialogue with the major opposition party due to Trump.

He stressed that negotiations should be held bilaterally between the treasury and the opposition.

He also said that Pakistan had witnessed ups and downs in its bilateral ties with the US, however, Islamabad would not accept anything against its national interests.

To another question, the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader replied that the federal government would not create obstacles if the Imran Khan-founded party seeks "conclusive and time-bound" talks.

He, however, said that it won't be possible if both sides agreed on all demands during the talks, adding that the government was not in haste to summon meetings immediately.

He was pointing towards the recent statement of the embattled PTI Chairman Gohar Ali Khan in which he sought government's “timeframe” in connection with progress on their demands after the latter met Imran at Adiala Jail today.

“Dialogues should be held within [a specified] timeframe,” Gohar said, quoting the incarcerated PTI founder, urging the incumbent government to make progress.

The PTI founder expressed his satisfaction over initiating the negotiation process, he added.

Responding to a question, the PTI chairman said that matters related to the civil disobedience movement were not discussed in the meeting.

The development came a day after the ruling coalition and the PTI came to table to defuse political tensions in the cash-strapped country.

Negotiating committees, formed by the government and the PTI, conducted their much-hyped meeting in a conducive environment and resolved to continue dialogue process a day ago.

National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq, who presided over the meeting, had said that the next session will be held on January 2 and PTI’s team would present a charter of their demands in the huddle.