tbh, we lack info and there's no transparency about how POF operates or makes its decisions.
IMO, it just seems that Salman Ali does his thing while GHQ drafts its own plans. I think the PA will eventually sign onto a foreign rifle. They haven't gotten to that point yet because (1) it's expensive and (2) there are other funding priorities.
However, the cost of reworking POF to produce a new rifle and the cost of re-arming the Army are two separate issues. The former is a manageable overhead and the latter is a long-term endeavor that will take several decades.
The infamous 2015-2016 tender was proof that the PA was interested in a foreign design. IMO, they still are, despite POF's ongoing projects. POF isn't moving the needle with any of our top decision-makers and, IMO, the reasons why the PA didn't pick a new rifle yet have nothing to do with the G-3, POF, or Salman Ali. That time just hasn't come, but it will, eventually, and I don't think any POF design will be in the running.