ISLAMABAD - Minister for Defence Pervez Khattak on Sunday invited Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) leaders for a dialogue to discuss all the contentious issues.

In a press statement, the minister said, "We Pakhtoons belong to the same province thus we should collectively work for the development of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa."

He said the erstwhile FATA districts were merged in the province in order to bring the people into the national mainstream. He said those districts were lagging behind in terms of education, healthcare and basic communications infrastructure. He said that it was time to collectively work for their uplift rather than indulging in confrontation.

Pervaiz Khattak invited PTM leadership to come to a table and jot down issues of their concerns and discuss resolution of their issues.

He said the country was going through a tougher period wherein the masses were confronted by the global pandemic, adding, the coronavirus pandemic had not only cast devastation to the economy of the country but also the lives of people. He said that the exponential spread had increased the casualties. He said the political instability in the country especially the KPK province would further add to the miseries of the people.