ISLAMABAD: Informal contacts between the government and the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) have gathered momentum during the ongoing budget session, fuelling cautious speculation about the possible opening of formal political dialogue between the two sides.
Well-placed sources told Business Recorder that a series of discreet meetings and backchannel discussions have taken place in recent days between the opposition leader in National Assembly Mahmood Khan Achakzai and senior PTI leaders Barrister Gohar Ali Khan on one side, and key government ministers including Adviser to the Prime Minister on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, and Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar on the other.
The developments come against the backdrop of renewed overtures by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for a “Charter of Economy” and a “Charter of Democracy”, initiatives aimed at forging minimum political consensus on critical economic and institutional issues amid continued political polarisation.
On Friday, the Prime Minister himself briefly crossed over to the opposition benches during the National Assembly’s budget proceedings, where he exchanged greetings with Achakzai, Barrister Gohar, and senior PTI leader Asad Qaiser – a gesture that did not go unnoticed in an otherwise adversarial parliamentary environment.
According to sources, the ongoing contacts are primarily aimed at testing the waters for a possible structured dialogue framework between the government and PTI.
At this stage, they stressed, the engagement remains informal and exploratory in nature, focusing on confidence-building measures and identifying limited areas of convergence.
However, they cautioned that considerable obstacles continue to stand in the way of any formal negotiation process.
Chief among them, sources said, is the likelihood that PTI would raise the issue of former prime minister Imran Khan’s release – a demand that government interlocutors view as both politically sensitive and legally constrained.
PTI, meanwhile, is also navigating internal pressures, with segments of its support base – particularly its vocal social media constituency and overseas supporters – openly opposing any engagement with the government and criticising leaders seen as favouring dialogue.
The position of Aleema Khan, the sister of Imran Khan, is also being closely monitored in political circles, given her past public reservations regarding negotiations with the government and her influence among sections of the party’s support base.
Despite these challenges, sources characterised the recent contacts as a “notable and constructive opening”, noting that the budget session has inadvertently created rare political space for direct interaction between the two rival camps.
They added that both sides continue to assess the political temperature cautiously, with no immediate breakthrough expected, but with the possibility of a more structured dialogue mechanism remaining under consideration.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026
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