Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi has said the federal government made every possible effort to prevent an emergency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Speaking during a joint session of Parliament on Thursday, he said the government had sought cooperation from the provincial administration to address terrorism through dialogue and mutual understanding.
Naqvi said the federal government repeatedly attempted to work with the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government on security challenges. However, he claimed that establishing an apex committee in the province proved difficult. Such committees coordinate efforts among government officials and security institutions on important security matters.
The interior minister referred to an apex committee meeting held in Peshawar in February this year. He said there had been considerable difficulties in establishing the committee in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. According to him, the federal government wanted both administrations to cooperate more closely against terrorism.
Naqvi stressed that dialogue remained the government’s preferred approach. He said officials had made repeated attempts to resolve disagreements through negotiations rather than allowing tensions to escalate. The government, he added, wanted to address the province’s security problems through cooperation between federal and provincial authorities.
The minister also referred to several terrorist incidents in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in which security personnel lost their lives. He alleged that statements against the military were made by the chief minister on the day following some of these incidents. His remarks highlighted the differences between the federal government and the provincial leadership over security policy.
Naqvi also mentioned former National Assembly speaker Asad Qaiser, saying he had discussed differences between Qaiser’s position against terrorism and statements attributed to the provincial government. He said counterterrorism remained a central issue during negotiations with provincial representatives.
Reiterating his position on the KP emergency, Naqvi said the government had wanted to avoid imposing emergency measures in the province. He added that he had met Sohail Afridi personally several times. His parliamentary remarks focused on the federal government’s claimed efforts to secure provincial cooperation, although the report did not provide an independent assessment of the competing positions.
