Defence minister invites PTM for dialogue

Pervaiz Khattak says we Pakhtoons belong to same province thus we should collectively work for the development of K-P

ISLAMABAD: Defence Minister Pervaiz Khattak has invited the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) leaders for a dialogue to discuss all the contentious issues.

The minister, in a press statement, said: “We Pakhtoons belong to the same province thus we should collectively work for the development of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.”

The erstwhile FATA districts were merged in the province in order to bring the people into the national mainstream, he said, adding that those districts were lagging behind in terms of education, healthcare and basic communications infrastructure.



“It is time to collectively work for their uplift rather than indulging in confrontation,” the minister said.

Khattak invited the PTM leadership to come to a table and jot down issues of their concerns and discuss the resolution of their issues. He said that the country was going through a tougher period wherein the masses were confronted by the global pandemic, adding, the coronavirus pandemic had not only cast devastation to the economy of the country but also the lives of people.

He said that coronavirus exponential spread had increased the casualties. “The political instability in the country especially the K-P would further add to the miseries of the people,” he said.