Rejecting the allegation of treason against him, former finance minister and PTI leader Shaukat Tarin said on Wednesday that he always said what was in the interest of the nation, reported 24NewsHD TV channel. 

Talking to media, he said it was not appropriate to call him a ‘traitor’ since he had not committed treason. “If this is what you call treason, then what will you say about the parties, part of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), which are presently included in the coalition government, which had talked about tearing copies of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) documents back in January 2022?” he asked.  

Soon after Tarin’s audio calls with the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Punjab finance ministers, in which he had asked them to write letters to the IMF ahead of restoration of its programme with Pakistan, were leaked, opponents of the PTI started accusing him of committing treason since, what they alleged, he had tried to prevent signing of Pakistan’s agreement with the Fund.