'Will have to compromise on national security if country defaults'

LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairperson Imran Khan on Thursday warned that if Pakistan defaults, it will have to "compromise on its national security" the next time the government approaches foreign lenders for aid, media reports said.

Recalling that the country's default risk was a "mere 5pc" when he was in power earlier this year, he said the incumbent government has "devasted the economy", tghe Express Tribune reported.

He further said all steps being taken by the current government, including bringing changes to the Army Act, are to ensure that the incumbent leaders can safeguard their "looted weath". He further said that there was a chance that the current leaders would flee the country "once again" and they are "doing this all for themselves, not the country or its people", it reported.

Reiterating his call for free and fair elections, Imran Khan maintained it was the only way forward for the country. "PTI won 70 per cent of the elections despite the fact that the establishment was supporting them (the ruling party)," said the former premier.

He also claimed that the aim is to "eliminate Imran Khan".

The PTI Chairperson also said this "was a defining moment" in the history of the country and "when the nation stands up, they are unstoppable", Express Tribune reported.

PTI Secretary General Asad Umar on Thursday said the party will hold the "largest ever" political gathering in Rawalpindi.

He said the PTI will not be threatened or will bow down and its leaders will be "standing with its supporters" and not hide behind "bulletproof glass".

PTI Chairman Imran Khan, who recently survived an assassination attempt in Wazirabad which left him injured in the legs, said that the threat to his life was "still there", the media reported.

Khan sustained bullet injuries in both of his lower limbs in an attempt on his life during PTI's much-touted anti-government long march when his convoy stopped in Wazirabad on November 3, The News reported.

In a recent interview with France24, Khan said that he still dreaded another bid on his life in the near future.

"They think that the only way to get me out of the way is actually (to) eliminate me. So I think that there is a threat, still," Khan said, The News reported.

As per the former prime minister, the suspected assassin that has been arrested right after the incident was merely a decoy and there was another gunman at the rally in the eastern city.

Khan said he only trusted the chief justice to conduct an independent investigation, arguing that any other probe would be sabotaged by the government.

The former premier said he also feared further attempts on his life but vowed to rejoin the anti-government march.

He said he would take "more precautions" but vowed to carry on regardless of the risks, insisting that the protest march would remain peaceful.

He said the only solution was free and fair elections, stressing that his party was certain to win them, The News reported.

Khan, who was ousted as premier in April after losing a no-confidence vote in parliament, denied having backtracked on his claim that he was toppled as part of a collusion between the US and the Pakistani elite.

He stressed there was indeed evidence that the US administration wanted to oust him, saying that a diplomatic cable proved his claim and that the issue was now in the hands of the chief justice. However, he said he didn't want to go against the interests of the people of Pakistan by antagonising a superpower.