ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan met with Nato envoys on Friday to clarify his party’s position on drones and the blockade of supplies through Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Accompanied by Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Shireen Mazari and Naeemul Haq, the PTI chairman met the envoys during a dinner meeting at the residence of the Greek ambassador.
“PTI does not want war with the US or NATO, but we need to send a clear message to the US that drones are destroying the very fabric of FATA and Khyber Pukhtunkhwa,” he said.
According to a press release, Khan made it clear that it was in keeping with the electoral commitments made by the party on drones and the resolution passed by an all-parties conference, that the PTI had finally taken the action of stopping Nato supplies through KP.
Had the government moved on furthering the APC mandate and made it clear to the US that drones were not acceptable, the PTI may not have been compelled to take the step of halting Nato supplies through KP, the release quote Khan as saying.
While appreciating the assistance provided by many of the Nato member countries to Khyber Pukhtunkhwa's social sector, Khan stressed that all this assistance would be nullified if there were no peace and security in that province.
Peace in KP cannot come without a total halt in drone attacks and commencement of dialogue, he said. “It is only by ending the militants’ narrative of jihad that the state can isolate the hardliners from those prepared for dialogue,” Khan said. The party chairman expressed the hope that the Nato envoys would convey the PTI’s position to the US, which is also an integral member of Nato. Khan reminded them that there was a national consensus against drones and that it was counter-productive for US interests as well to continue with such policies.
US refutes reports of meeting request with Khan
Meanwhile, the US embassy in Islamabad rejected local media reports stating that US Ambassador to Islamabad Richard G. Olson had requested a meeting with Imran Khan to discuss the protests, but that Khan had refused the request.
No such meeting request was made, said a statement from the US embassy.
“Embassy officials do meet regularly with people from different segments of society including opposition politicians as a part of their normal diplomatic responsibilities. The Ambassador has met with PTI’s leadership on various occasions, however no such meeting was requested recently,” clarified the statement.