PTI says Pak govt didn’t allow its leaders to meet US lawmakers

Islamabad: A delegation of US lawmakers, which visited Pakistan recently and held multiple meetings with top officials in the government and military establishment, did not mention or even address the case of former Prime Minister Imran Khan who continues to serve a jail term in multiple cases at the Adiala Jail.

Pakistan National Assembly’s Speaker Ayaz Sadiq, who had a brief meeting with the visiting US delegation, said that the lawmakers made no mention of the PTI founding chairman during their engagements in Islamabad.

“US congressional delegation, which held a series of meetings with government officials and politicians on the sidelines of the Pakistan Minerals Forum 2025, made it clear that they had no interest or role in Pakistan’s internal political affairs,” said Sadiq.

Imran Khan’s party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has been lobbying to raise the issue of “illegal arrest” of their leader in concocted fake cases against the former premier, along with the ongoing crackdown by the government and the military establishment against party leadership. The PTI was looking at the Trump administration with a hope that it would raise the issue with the Shehbaz Sharif-led coalition government in Pakistan and use its influence to ensure release of Khan from jail.

PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan alleged that his party leaders were deliberately omitted from any interaction with the US delegation. “I was not notified of any meetings and received no formal or informal invitation,” claimed Gohar Ali Khan.

However, his claims were rejected by Ayaz Sadiq, who said that Gohar Ali Khan and Amir Dogar were invited to a dinner hosted for the US delegation, but they chose not to attend. “It was an opportunity for the PTI leaders to speak directly with the Americans – the same people they often appeal to for support,” said Sadiq.