ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday said his government was willing to resume talks with the opposition if it called off its long march on Islamabad, setting a condition for fresh negotiations amid rising political tensions.

The statement came as the long march by jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) opposition party reached Kohat in the country’s northwest 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 ceremony in Islamabad, PM Sharif urged the PTI leadership to “act maturely” and end their long march, saying the whole nation knew whether such actions would benefit the country or harm it.

“I would request you to be mature and end your long march, sit-ins and if you end them, then we will certainly sit with you and talk,” the prime minister said.

The government’s offer for fresh talks came after KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi led supporters to KP’s Kohat district on the way to Islamabad. The march is scheduled to reach KP’s border with the Punjab province on Oct. 8, after which Afridi is expected to outline the next phase for the protesters to reach the capital.

Meanwhile, the Punjab administration on Tuesday banned public gatherings for 10 days, citing intelligence warnings of possible militant attacks. In Islamabad, police said they had restricted entry to the Red Zone, a heavily guarded district housing Parliament, senior government offices and foreign embassies.

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

“As a result of the politics of sit-ins and long marches, the primary target will be your economy. There will be disruptions in your exports, your manufacturing, and your imports,” he was quoted as saying by his office.

“If your laborer or your engineer fails to reach the factory, the manufacturing site, or their office on time, whose loss is it? It is the loss of this nation, the loss of this country.”

The prime minister said the government had successfully restored macroeconomic stability and was striving for growth through collective teamwork, with positive indicators reflected in rising exports, remittances, and industrial production.

He cautioned that undermining these hard-won achievements would amount to “hostility toward the state.”

“We will not allow this to happen. The law will take its course. Protecting the lives and property of the people is our responsibility, and we will ensure this by all means,” the premier said.

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.

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