It was the latest in a series of protest rallies since last month to press for Khan’s release and agitate against the ruling coalition, which the PTI calls illegitimate, saying it was formed after a fraudulent election.
“It is their right to hold a gathering, but this is not the right time or the way,” Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi told journalists, pointing to diplomatic events in the capital.
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim was in Islamabad on Thursday and Friday while the city is also preparing to host a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation on Oct 15-16.
That event will also be attended by Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar. He will be the first Indian foreign minister to visit Pakistan in nearly a decade, with relations between the two arch-rival neighbours remaining frosty.
Naqvi said a Saudi delegation and Chinese Premier Li Qiang would be arriving in Islamabad ahead of the conference.
