Imran sits down with Tareen, Qureshi to diffuse tensions

Author: Agencies

Prime Minister Imran Khan held separate meetings with senior Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Jahangir Khan Tareen and Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and asked them to diffuse the tensions between them, a private news channel reported on Sunday.

The channel quoted its sources as saying that the prime minister met the duo two days ago and instructed them to sort things out between them.

Sources further said that during the meetings, matters of the federal, Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governments were also discussed, including matters related to the two provincial cabinets.

Changes could be expected in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa cabinet in the coming days after a major reshuffle in the federal cabinet, sources added.

The two political heavyweights have been critical of each other in the past.

Last month, Qureshi criticised Tareen for attending government and PTI meetings, and said it gave the opposition something to talk about. The foreign minister told reporters that Tareen had been disqualified by the Supreme Court and barred from contesting elections, so his attendance at meetings opened the door for criticism by the opponents.

The prime minister has been quoted as saying that he himself gave Tareen an assignment on the agricultural policy, and that it was up to him to decide who would attend the meetings.