NEITHER side, it seems, has committed fully yet. Both the government and the opposition have engaged in a lot of political chest-beating since the breakdown of negotiations early Sunday, but they have both also left the door open for resumption of dialogue.
It is a prudent strategy. The PTI’s plan seems to be to take its protest caravan on, for lack of a better phrase, a long march along eastern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa before it arrives at the gates of Punjab.
Meanwhile, the government may be breathing fire, wagging its fingers at the opposition and declaring the inevitability of emergency rule in KP, but it is also signalling a willingness to return to the negotiating table. The president, for all his party’s huffing and puffing, also seems to have decided that pressing the nuclear button is not the wisest choice available at the moment. He, too, has advised the prime minister to give negotiations another chance.
That is precisely what the two sides should do while the marchers are still marching and something can be done to dissuade them from heading to Islamabad. It may be difficult for the two sides to reengage after Sunday. Perhaps it may be best to encourage a small group of negotiators to quietly restart the talks while the political drama plays out in the background. The process should start sooner rather than later, before the stakes become too difficult to manage. Both the government and the opposition will have learnt enough from the first round of talks. They now know better what the other side’s red lines are and should adjust accordingly. The government should realise that the opposition to military operations in KP is a bigger challenge than it frames it as, and the KP government should contribute constructively to the security conversation and not act like a spoiler.
It still defies understanding why the government remains so unyielding on allowing any relief for jailed PTI founder Imran Khan. On the one hand, federal ministers accuse the PTI of holding the state hostage, yet on the other, the government insists on holding a widely popular public figure in complete seclusion, in defiance of court orders. Showing some flexibility on this matter, as a political concession if not on humanitarian grounds, would earn the government considerable goodwill, allow the opposition to call off its protest and perhaps even break the deadlock over how KP’s security situation is to be handled. That said, the PTI must also engage in talks with transparency and clarity of intent. There can be no last-minute changes of heart when so much is at stake. The two sides came close to a breakthrough in the last round. It is hoped that they can cross the finish line on their second attempt.
Published in Dawn, October 8th, 2026
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