ISLAMABAD   -   Pakistan Muslim League (N) Quaid Mian Nawaz Sharif has kept his brother and Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif out of the strategic political con­sultations held in Dubai be­tween him and PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari.

Highly credible sources told The Nation yesterday that for­mer prime minister Nawaz Sharif came to Dubai in the official aircraft of his brother Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif to Dubai the other day.

During the journey, both dis­cussed the prevailing politi­cal situation in the country in­cluding the civilians’ trial in military courts. 

They also discussed the fate of former prime minister Im­ran Khan and consultations on future caretaker setup includ­ing the date for next general elections. 

However, in a surprising development, according to sources Nawaz Sharif direct­ed Shahbaz Sharif to proceed to Pakistan and for immedi­ate reasons and didn't allow him to sit in the talks while Maryum nawaz was part of the consultations. 

On the other side, both PM­L(N) and PPP leaders contin­Shahbaz Sharif to proceed to Pakistan and for immedi­ate reasons and didn’t allow him to sit in the talks while Maryum nawaz was part of the consultations. On the oth­er side, both PML(N) and PPP leaders continued their talks in Dubai for several hours on the future caretaker setup, the dates for the next general elections and other legal and constitutional issues in Paki­stan. According to the sourc­es, both the sides agreed to hold another meeting after Eid ul-Azha. The sources fur­ther said that the PPP leaders conveyed their desire of hold­ing general elections in the last week of October or the first week of November 2023. Asif Ali Zardari also suggested three names to be considered for the caretaker prime min­ister, however, these names were not disclosed to me­dia. Both the sides are con­sulting their close aides on the prevailing political situ­ation. The issue of newly es­tablished Istehkam-e-Paki­stan Party also came under discussion during the meet­ing. However, they didn’t dis­cuss seat adjustment and de­cided to contest elections on their own platforms out­side the Pakistan Democratic movement (PDM). The future of PDM also came under dis­cussion. However, PPP made it clear that it would not con­test elections under the plat­form of PDM.