Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday called an All Parties Conference (APC) on February 7 in Islamabad and invited the country’s political leadership, including PTI Chairman Imran Khan, to discuss ways to overcome the challenges the country is facing.

The development comes as the country is facing an uptick in terrorist activity. On January 30, a suicide bombing at a mosque in Peshawar Police Lines area claimed the lives of at least 101 people, mostly police officials.

At the same time, the country is also facing trouble on the economic front. Foreign exchange reserves have gone down to $3.09 billion, which analysts say covers less than three weeks of imports.

The country is locked in negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to release much-needed money under a stalled bailout programme. A successful outcome with the IMF would also help to release money from other platforms that are looking for a greenlight from the lender.

Economic Affairs Minister Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, a former speaker of the National Assembly, contacted PTI leaders Asad Qaiser and Pervez Khattak.

Sadiq conveyed the premier’s invitation for Imran to the two leaders. PM Shehbaz also invited two PTI representatives to the apex committee meeting which would be held in Peshawar on Friday.

Sadiq conveyed the invitation to the PTI leaders and asked them to nominate representatives for the apex committee meeting, which is being held at the Governor House in Peshawar.

The meeting will be attended by all stakeholder, including Rangers and officers from intelligence institutions. The meeting would discuss the terrorist incident that occurred in Peshawar, and consider steps to eradicate terrorism and upgrade the Counter Terrorism Department and police.