Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has delayed the proposed multiparty national security conference so that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan can return from Britain to attend it.
“We don’t want to give anyone any excuse not to participate in the important session,” a senior official source said.
All political invitees are in Pakistan and are willing to join in the conference that will prepare the national security strategy. Only Imran Khan proceeded to London a few days ago for his medical treatment and to spend some time with his two sons, who are studying there. So far, he has an open-ended schedule to return.
The government believes that Imran Khan’s urging before his departure abroad to the federal government to arrange the security conference without any delay was intended to take political mileage. It felt that when it finally decided to call the meeting, he left abroad to avoid participation.
The source said that in reality the PTI chief did not want to be part of the deliberations to formulate the national security policy so that he could hammer the government later saying that the strategy prepared by it was flawed and patchy.
But the source said the prime minister has decided not to give Imran Khan any pretext to slam him subsequently. Therefore, the meeting has been deferred till the PTI chief would be available. It was Imran Khan, who took the lead in recommending that Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani should also be called to the security conference for briefing.
Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan has announced that not only the army chief but all the stakeholders would be invited to the session for their contribution. The heads of the premier intelligence agencies would also attend it.
The conference was earlier proposed to be held on July 12 but has been delayed as Imran Khan left for London two days before it despite previously telling the government that he would attend it. In Britain, his first engagement was his participation in a charity gala to raise funds for Asian elephants where he was shown animatedly chatting with Prince Charles and his wife.
There were two views in the senior government circles about the timing of the conference, which were presented to the prime minister on his return from China. It was then decided to delay the session for a reasonable time.
One set opined that the meeting should be held on the appointed date as waiting for Imran Khan’s return would attach him unnecessary importance. But the other view was that the PTI chief should not be allowed to hide behind an excuse not to attend the session. If he was personally part of the meeting, its conclusions will carry more weight and relevance.
The PTI has decided that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervez Khattak and its senior leader Shah Mehmood Qureshi will represent it in the security conference in Imran Khan’s absence from Pakistan.