Asif Zardari 'asks' Naqvi to play role in defusing Sindh-Punjab tensions

KARACHI: President Asif Ali Zardari has ‘asked’ Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi to play his role in defusing tensions between Sindh and Punjab, ARY News reported on Tuesday, citing sources. 

On Monday, it emerged that President Asif Ali Zardari has summoned Mohsin Naqvi to Karachi to discuss Sindh-Punjab issue.

The meeting between Asif Zardari and Mohsin Naqvi was held at Bilawal House Karachi, in which the country’s political situation and recent Sindh-Punjab tensions came under discussion.

During the meeting, the president reportedly asked Mohsin Naqvi to play his role in defusing Sindh-Punjab tensions.

Meanwhile,  President PML-N Nawaz Sharif backed Maryam Nawaz in the ongoing row between the People’s Party and the Punjab government, sources said.

According to sources, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, in a meeting with the former prime minister, talked about the dispute and said that if Maryam Nawaz avoids harsh statements, the People’s Party will also observe ceasefire.

Read more: President Zardari summons Mohsin Naqvi to Karachi over Sindh–Punjab tensions

Nawaz Sharif, however, backed his daughter Maryam Nawaz and said that the “Punjab chief minister’s statements are a reaction to the People’s Party’s undue criticism. Maryam Nawaz has truly represented the people of Punjab,” Nawaz Sharif told the prime minister.

“A scathing press conference by Sindh’s Information Minister Sharjeel Memon on Sunday and criticism of CM Punjab was after Nawaz Sharif’s support to Maryam”, sources shared.

The row between two political allies has further heated up after it, sources added.

Earlier, Punjab Information Minister Azma Bukhari made it clear that CM Maryam Nawaz won’t apologize to anyone for her statement.