As the country's top brass gathered under one roof at a high-profile dinner hosted by Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir on Friday night, one conspicuous chair remained empty - that of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur.
Despite being invited, the PTI stalwart sat the event out, choosing instead to attend a high-level party meeting focused on securing the release of PTI's jailed founding chairman, Imran Khan.
Gandapur's absence and the broader non-participation of the PTI leadership once again served as a pointed reminder that while the country's ruling elite was breaking bread, its rift with the former ruling party over the ex-premier's incarceration remained far from healed - a divide that had briefly narrowed during the recent Pakistan-India war.
The Friday night banquet, hosted in honour of the armed forces' success in Operation Bunyan-um-Marsoos, drew an elite crowd: President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the three provincial chief ministers (barring K-P), governors, key cabinet members and senior political leaders, including PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and ANP's Aimal Wali Khan.
"CM Sahib didn't attend the dinner as he was busy in a party meeting called to discuss about Imran Khan's release from jail," KP CM's spokesperson Faraz Mughal told The Express Tribune. "Meeting about Imran Khan's release was more important than field marshal's dinner," the spokesperson said.
Mughal said that Imran's sisters and party's key leaders had a long meeting regarding founding chairman's release and that is why he didn't attend the dinner.
He also confirmed that it was the same reason – party meeting about Khan's release – why Gandapur didn't attended the ceremony where the army chief was officially elevated to the rank of field marshal at the Presidency the other day.
Since August 2023, Imran Khan is incarcerated at Rawalpindi's Adiala Jail, serving sentences in multiple cases, including charges related to corruption – a charge that he used to frequently level against his political opponents and refused to even shake hands with them on this ground alone.
The efforts by his party to secure his release have so far yielded little progress.
Khan and his party maintain that the cases against him are politically motivated, aimed at sidelining him from the national political landscape.
His continued imprisonment has not only remained a rallying point for PTI leaders and supporters but become a central issue in the party's ongoing standoff with the establishment.
PTI Central Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram, while speaking to The Express Tribune said: "no one from our party was part of the dinner. I have no information suggesting any PTI leader was invited. Had anyone been invited, I would have known."
The party spokesperson while confirming that the CM was "definitely invited" said the chief minister's spokesperson would be in a better position to comment further. He, however, added that neither he had any information nor seen any photographs indicating Gandapur attended the event.
Apparently, the non-invitation to PTI and conspicuous absence of provincial chief minister underscores the lingering strain between the party and the powerful stakeholders amid PTI leaders' frequent statements that the party was ready to hold talks with the establishment to lower the political temperature in the country.
The question about PTI and Gandapur's absence surfaced after the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) issued a statement, video and photos of the Friday night's dinner. The video and photos showed Field Marshal receiving the guests, which also included PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and ANP's Aimal Wali Khan.
The military's media wing's statement said that President Asif Ali Zardari, PM Shehbaz Shari, deputy PM and foreign minister; chairman senate; speaker national assembly; federal ministers; governors; chief ministers; chairman joint chiefs of staff committee; chief of air and naval staff; senior leadership of major political parties; high-ranking government officials; and senior officers from the three services were present at the gathering.
Field Marshal had hosted the dinner to celebrate success in the operation Bunyan-um-Marsoos. On May 10, 2025, Pakistan had launched the as a retaliatory response to unprovoked Indian aggression, including missile strikes on Pakistani airbases and civilian areas.
The operation, named after a Quranic term meaning "solid structure," was aimed to neutralise key Indian military installations and demonstrate Pakistan's military resolve. Following Indian attacks, the Armed Forces of Pakistan targeted the BrahMos missile storage facility in Beas, airbases in Udhampur and Pathankot and a military intelligence training facility in Rajouri.
Pakistan's armed forces also shot down at least five Indian fighter jets, including a Rafale aircraft.
Pakistan's strong response soon drew international attention and got recognition from several countries and renowned experts, with global powers urging both nations to de-escalate tensions and avoid further military confrontations.
A ceasefire has been in place since then.
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