ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s government is open to dialogue with the opposition but it cannot be pressured into accepting demands, Prime Minister’s Adviser on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah said on Wednesday, as political tensions persist over a march toward Islamabad by jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s party.

Sanaullah’s comments came after the long march by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) opposition party reached the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar after it began from Lakki Marwat on Sunday.

The opposition launched the march after a breakdown of talks with the government over demands concerning access to Khan and differences over counterterrorism policy in PTI-ruled Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, which has seen a surge in militancy.

Speaking at a presser, Sanaullah criticized Khan’s party for putting “personal political agenda above national interest,” saying neither law nor the constitution or political ethics allowed this under any circumstances.

“The doors for talks are open,” he said in televised comments.

“But the desire for negotiations will not, under any circumstances, be allowed to become a tactic to hold the state hostage and force it to accept political demands.”

The statement came a day after PM Shehbaz Sharif offered PTI party talks if it ended its protest march toward Islamabad.

Sanaullah said the federal government believed in “resolving issues through negotiations and moving matters forward politically in a better way.”

“But any lack of cooperation that goes against the national interest, which is aimed at advancing personal political agenda, that cannot be allowed,” he said.

“PTI [Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party] leadership should rise above personal interests and keeping the national interest in mind, change their approach and call off this long march.”

The marchers, who left for Khyber district from Peshawar on Wednesday evening, will converge on KP’s border with the Punjab province this week, after which KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi will outline the next phase for the march to reach the capital.

On Tuesday, Sharif said a joint committee of the government and its coalition partners held talks with the opposition, but the process collapsed after PTI demanded last-minute changes to the finalized draft, indicating that their sole objective was to “sabotage the dialogue.”

Commenting on the failed talks earlier, PTI leaders said that reconciliation with the government was not possible without including Khan in the dialogue process. They said another reason for the collapse of negotiations was that the government was not willing to pursue a mutual counter-terrorism strategy.

The PTI party postponed its original Sept. 27 march to Oct. 4 to hold negotiations with the government, which began on Oct. 2. It has been demanding the release of Khan, Sharif’s main political rival who has been imprisoned since Aug. 2023 on charges he says are politically motivated, and greater access to him for relatives, lawyers and political associates.