Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Friday claimed that Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) an ally of the ruling PTI has "rubbished" the PPP’s claim of an agreement with the opposition to support the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan.

He made the claim after holding a meeting with MQM-P delegation, which included law and justice minister Farogh Nasim, minister for information technology Aminul Haq, and others on Friday.

The minister for defence, Pervez Khattak, and planning and development Asad Umar, also accompanied Qureshi, to convey an “important message” from the prime minister to the MQM-P ahead of the no-confidence motion.

Qureshi reiterated that the MQM-P leadership has declared Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) claim as “misleading”, saying no such agreement between the PPP and the MQM-P had taken place.

As the countdown has begun, the senior leaders of the ruling PTI have intensified the efforts to convince the allied political parties to “throw out” the no-confidence motion against the prime minister.

Qureshi said that the meeting ended on a “happy note” as both sides agreed to carry forward the ongoing talks between the two allies for finding an amicable solution to “trash” the no-confidence motion.

“It was a good will meeting…we just wanted to tell our friends from the MQM-P that we’re good friends and allies [and] we should continue serving our people together,” he added.

He said that the MQM-P delegation would convey the prime minister’s message to its top leadership, adding the MQM-P is with us as we are good political allies and together “we will emerge victorious”.

According to sources, the MQM-P leadership expressed their reservations about the commitments made with them by the prime minister regarding the issues faced by Karachiites.

The government ministers assured them that all their reservations would be addressed as development of the port has always been the top-most priority of the prime minister.

Meanwhile, Qureshi also telephoned another key ally of the government Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) and exchanged views with him about the no-confidence issue.

It was agreed that a delegation of the PTI comprising Qureshi, Khattak and Asad Umar will hold talks with Chaudhary Cousins in Lahore at 2pm on Saturday (today).

The PTI delegation will convey a “special message” of the prime minister to the Chaudhrys of Gujrat as the premier had visited their residence in Lahore some weeks back to inquire after the health of Chaudhary Shujaat Hussain and discuss the political situation.

The sources said that the government has convinced its allies to great extent and an announcement from them is expected on March 27.

The story was originally published in Business Recorder on March 26, 2022.