How to add rewrite on existing Nginx config file - php

Question

I have an existing Nginx config file that I've configured to work with a docker container that runs php. Below is the nginx config file:
server {
listen 80;
index index.php index.html;
error_log /var/log/nginx/error.log;
access_log /var/log/nginx/access.log;
root /var/www/public;
location ~ \.php$ {
try_files $uri =404;
fastcgi_split_path_info ^(.+\.php)(/.+)$;
fastcgi_pass app:9000;
fastcgi_index index.php;
include fastcgi_params;
fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME $document_root$fastcgi_script_name;
fastcgi_param PATH_INFO $fastcgi_path_info;
}
location / {
try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php?$query_string;
gzip_static on;
}
}
Now I wanted to test a certain project in the nginx configuration, the project requires that I use its own configuration of nginx
# nginx configuration
autoindex off;
location / {
if (!-e $request_filename){
rewrite ^(.*)$ /index.php?path=$1;
}
}
I am getting difficulties on adding the new configurations onto the already existing Nginx file that connects to the PHP container. I need some help on how I can add the new configurations without compromising the old Nginx file because the routes wont be redirected to the php container if I use the Nginx file that comes with the project.