Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Monday mocked former prime minister Imran Khan by saying that the latter's biggest regret is that he was denied the chance to name the army commander of his choosing.

According to Asif, Khan intended to bring an army commander of his choosing so that he could continue to reign for another 10 years when he spoke to the PML-N workers' convention in Sialkot, according to Radio Pakistan.

The PTI chairman tried to make the national institutions controversial, the federal minister claimed, but he was unsuccessful in his "nefarious plot."

The PML-N leader, Berating Khan, claimed that throughout the PTI leader's roughly four-year stint in office, the national economy was decimated.

He added that in the history of the nation, no government had ever taken as many loans as the Imran Khan administration had. Imran Khan had previously stated that he would commit suicide rather than take loans.

The minister claimed that for the past eight months, the coalition administration has worked nonstop to boost and resuscitate the nation's economy.

According to Asif, the government is resolute and will soon be able to put the nation's economy back on track.

"I don't want the army chief I want."

Imran Khan discussed the choice of the new army chief once more in September and stated that he was solely interested in merit-based selections.

The former prime minister addressed a jalsa in Karak, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, in response to Bilawal Bhutto-statement Zardari's that Khan wants to "appoint an army commander of his choice."

Khan had responded to Bilawal by saying: "Let me be clear that I do not want an army chief [of my choice], despite the fact that they claim Imran Khan wants to pick the army head of his choosing. Merit-based appointment is all that matters to me."

In an attack on the PDM leadership, Khan claimed that PML-N Vice-President Maryam Nawaz was "incapable of telling the truth" and once again charged that she put personal relationships above the needs of the country.