Pakistan on Edge: Imran Khan's PTI Marches on Islamabad After Last-Minute Talks

Pakistan's government and the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) held last-minute negotiations on Friday to defuse a political standoff ahead of the party's planned long march on Islamabad on October 4. With the capital already sealed off by shipping containers and tens of thousands of security personnel, the talks may be the last chance to avert a confrontation that could turn violent.

The march, postponed from its original September 27 date, is the biggest show of strength by supporters of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan in two years — and both sides appear to be digging in.

Imran Khan, the jailed former prime minister whose party is marching on Islamabad. (Wikimedia Commons)

The March: From Lakki Marwat to the Capital

According to Reuters reporting from Islamabad, PTI had planned to begin its march on September 27 to press for the release of Khan, who has been in jail since 2023. The date was pushed to October 4 by Sohail Afridi, the chief minister of the PTI-ruled Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, who announced the new date to reporters on September 25.

Party spokesperson Zulfi Bukhari has warned, however, that the march could begin earlier than announced. “We can now do it whenever we deem fit,” Bukhari told Reuters. “The question is to the government, as to how long they're willing to keep the country closed off?”

Bukhari outlined the planned route: the march would set off from Gandi Chowk in Lakki Marwat, make its first stop in Karak, a second stop in Kohat on October 5, and then enter Peshawar district — the party's political heartland and staging ground for previous marches on the capital.

Behind Closed Doors: Friday's Talks

With days to go before the march, the federal government mandated a negotiating team to open talks with PTI — an effort aimed squarely at heading off the protest.

Zulfiqar Bukhari, the party's international spokesman, confirmed the talks were underway and said they were “primarily aimed at defusing the current political situation surrounding PTI's planned march/protest toward Islamabad on October 4.”

The government side was led by senior leader Rana Sanaullah, with the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) represented by Syed Naveed Qamar, Sherry Rehman and Aijaz Jakhrani. The PTI delegation included party chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate Allama Raja Nasir Abbas, general secretary Salman Akram Raja, former National Assembly speaker Asad Qaiser and lawmaker Aamir Dogar.

Speaking to the media before the meeting, Sanaullah said protests do not resolve issues and that the solution to all problems lies in negotiation. He emphasised that the courts, not the government, would decide the cases against Khan. Gohar, for his part, expressed hope that the negotiations would succeed.

A Capital Sealed Off

Regardless of how the talks go, Islamabad is already bracing for impact. Earlier this week, Pakistani authorities curbed access to the capital by blocking major highways with shipping containers and deploying tens of thousands of security forces, according to Reuters.

The clampdown has already disrupted daily life in and around the capital, with travellers stranded as police blocked major roads including the GT Road ahead of the expected march. Authorities have also detained three of Khan's sisters and hundreds of party activists in recent days, citing the need to maintain public order.

The memory of PTI's last large-scale protest two years ago — which ended in deadly clashes with security forces — looms over everything. Neither the government nor the party wants a repeat, though each accuses the other of preparing for one.

What the PTI Is Demanding

The talks revolve around a set of demands that go beyond simply calling off the march. PTI is demanding an “immediate” meeting with Khan in jail, and a decision to take him to a hospital where his personal doctors can examine him.

The party also wants the release of Khan's sisters and the other activists arrested ahead of the protest, a proper medical check-up of Khan's wife Bushra Bibi, and assurances that their cases will be heard properly without interference.

Khan, 73, a former cricket star ousted by parliament in a 2022 no-confidence vote, has claimed to be a political prisoner. He remains in Rawalpindi's Adiala Jail, where he has been held since 2023 following convictions in multiple cases that he and his supporters describe as politically motivated.

Islamabad has been sealed off with shipping containers and security forces ahead of the planned march.

What This Means

The timing of the march is not accidental. A senior PTI leader, speaking anonymously, described the postponement from September 27 to October 4 as a strategic move to exhaust government resources already committed to sealing off the capital and major routes. Some party sources said internal discussions had considered alternative dates, including October 5 — Khan's birthday — before settling on October 4.

That calculation puts the government in a bind. Keeping Islamabad locked down for weeks is expensive and economically damaging; lifting the barricades and letting tens of thousands of marchers approach the capital carries the risk of exactly the kind of clashes both sides say they want to avoid.

The talks also expose how little middle ground remains. PTI's core demand — access to and medical care for Khan — is about his treatment in custody, an issue the government insists rests with the courts. The government, in turn, is asking PTI to call off a march it has already framed as a fight for “Haqiqi Azadi” (true freedom), the supremacy of the constitution, the restoration of an independent judiciary and media freedom, in Afridi's words.

Supporters of Imran Khan's PTI during an earlier protest. (AP file photo)

What Happens Next

Three scenarios are now in play. The first is a negotiated settlement: the government concedes on PTI's demands for Khan's medical care and the release of detained activists, and the march is called off or scaled back into a symbolic rally far from the capital.

The second is a stalemate: talks fail, the march begins on October 4 from Lakki Marwat, and the confrontation moves to the highways and entry points of Islamabad, where containers and security cordons are already in place.

The third — the one both sides publicly say they want to avoid — is a repeat of the deadly clashes of two years ago, with street battles in the capital drawing international attention and deepening Pakistan's political and economic crisis.

For now, the ball is in the negotiators' court. But with the clock ticking toward October 4 and the capital already barricaded, Friday's talks may be the last off-ramp available.