Jailed former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan would not confront army chief Asim Munir if he were released, one of his closest aides said, suggesting Munir could extend a "healing hand" following a legal breakthrough this week.
The remarks, made to Reuters after Pakistan's top court ordered Khan's transfer to hospital for treatment, appeared to signal a notable shift in rhetoric from Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, or PTI, party.
For years, PTI supporters have protested against Munir, whom they blame for Khan's imprisonment in 2023 following his falling-out with the military leadership. Khan, the former cricket hero, has himself called Munir "mentally unstable".
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Why Khan would not confront
But PTI spokesperson Zulfikar Bukhari, a Khan aide, offered one of the clearest indications yet that the party could be prepared to mend ties with the military. Such a move could ease one of the most intense political confrontations in Pakistan's recent history, although it remains unclear whether Khan himself would endorse the approach.
"If Imran Khan was released tomorrow, hypothetically, he wouldn't do anything that would effectively damage the country," Bukhari said, describing him as "magnanimous".
{{/usCountry}}"If Imran Khan was released tomorrow, hypothetically, he wouldn't do anything that would effectively damage the country," Bukhari said, describing him as "magnanimous".
{{/usCountry}}"That doesn't mean you go loggerheads with the establishment, with the military leader," he said, according to Reuters.
The government and military did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Bukhari's remarks. The military has previously said it does not interfere in politics, while the government maintains that Khan's cases are matters for the courts.
Pakistan's Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered authorities to transfer Khan, 73, from prison to a private hospital within 48 hours. Analysts widely viewed the decision as a possible first step toward reducing tensions between the military and Khan's party, even if temporarily.
Bukhari described the ruling as a "new ray of hope" and said PTI would follow the court's instruction preventing its workers and leaders from gathering outside the hospital. By Thursday afternoon, however, Khan had yet to be transferred, and it was unclear whether the government would seek to challenge the ruling again after a challenge was rejected on technical grounds earlier on Thursday.
'Pakistan's most powerful man'
Bukhari said PTI was not holding talks with the military, but described Munir, who also holds the rank of field marshal, as Pakistan's most powerful man.
If Munir woke up "one fine morning" and said: "Enough, I need to show I'm the father of the nation at the moment", then he could "rub his healing hand on to the country," Bukhari said. "I would feel that every political prisoner would be out within 24 hours."
Analysts, however, cautioned that Khan's position could differ from that of PTI leaders who have avoided arrest. Pakistani authorities have dismantled much of the party's political apparatus, while many of its former senior officials remain in prison.
It's unclear if "PTI's leadership have the capacity, so long as Khan is in jail, to present a common front in any potential engagement or negotiation with the state", said Michael Kugelman, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council.
(With inputs from Reuters)