Pakistan election: Imran Khan looks at plan for $12bn International Monetary Fund bailout

“First, there is new leadership in Pakistan”, said US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in an interview with CNBC television on Monday.

India on Saturday said it desires a prosperous and progressive Pakistan at peace with its neighbours.

The PTI become the largest party in Pakistan’s national assembly in last week’s general election under Mr Khan, who is close to Mr Sarwar.

Imran Khan is likely to take oath as country’s prime minister on August 11.

“We are pretty much there in the National Assembly. talks are going on with MQM as well”, said Faisal Javed Khan, a senior PTI spokesman.

He further stated that the two governments should devise a joint plan of action on poverty alleviation.

“We hope Pakistan’s PTI chief will lead Pakistan and improve relations with neighboring countries as global cooperation and friendly relations is a key to successes and prosperity”, Geelani said.

“Perhaps D-Chowk area may be the right place to do it”, he said, referring to Islamabad’s famous D-Chowk where the party had staged its 126-day sit-in in 2014 against alleged rigging in the 2013 general elections.

The PTI is short of the 137 needed for a simple majority and is trying to woo independents to join the party.

Under the Constitution of Pakistan, the president will summon the meeting of the National Assembly within 21 days after the elections to elect the new prime minister.

The Allahu Akbar Tehreek party of Hafiz Saeed, who is accused of masterminding the 2008 attacks that killed 166 people in the Indian city of Mumbai, did not win a single seat.

It turns out that Pakistan’s national assembly has reserved seats – 70 of them – in addition to the elected ones.

The PTI is 12 seats short of majority. Hence, the strength of party will be reduced to 110.

Khan’s PTI scooped up 116 seats out of the directly contested 272 seat in the 25 July polls. It is also expected to get support of 4 members of Balochistan Awami Party.

During this conversation, Imran Khan told Modi that solutions to disputes should be found through dialogue, as per the PTI press release, which made no mention of the “Kashmir”.

The Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA), a new alliance in Sindh province, has two seats.

PML-N leaders Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Ayaz Sadiq, Marriyum Aurangzeb, Chaudhry Tanveer and Khurram Dastagir and Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP) leaders Mustafa Kamal, Raza Haroon and Waseem Ahmed also participated.

He said the PML-N was very much in the race to form its government.

The smaller parties – including the Islamist coalition Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal with tens of thousands of supporters, said they would launch protests and boycott Parliament, but Shehbaz Sharif said he would consult his party before taking such action. The defeat of several stalwarts of both the PML-N and the PPP, including Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the son of Benazir Bhutto and Co-Chairman of the PPP, in their own strongholds has also been attributed to the military’s interference in the electoral process.