PM Imran not ‘Anti-America’, US snubbed Pakistan’s Independent foreign policy: Pak

Responding to a cable involving discussions between a US and Pakistan official, the Pakistan cabinet members have stood by Imran Khan, stating that he is not ‘Anti-America’ and accused the US of not accepting ‘Pakistan’s Independent Foreign’ policy. The cable, as reported by Pakistan’s Express Tribune had US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu, discussing with Pakistan’s outgoing Ambassador to the US, Asad Majeed that there could be ramifications if Pakistan PM Imran Khan is able to sail through the no-trust vote.

The Pakistan Cabinet had announced a meeting on Wednesday to discuss the situation following the discussions in the cable. The members in the meeting reached the conclusion that US wasn’t happy with the neutral stance taken by Pakistan on the Ukraine siuation and that the US National Security Council was unanimous on the view that such position was due to ‘Imran Khan’s Policy’.

The Ministers emphasised that attempts are being made to mislead the opinion on the stance taken by PM Khan. This comes amidst speeches made by Imran Khan, referring to foreign conspiracy to oust him from the office. In the speeches, Pakistan PM had repeatedly mentioned about Pakistan having an independent foreign policy. 

Pakistan PM’s claim of foreign conspiracy over his ouster

Imran Khan has been reiterating about a foreign hand behind the ‘no confidence motion’ against his Government. Earlier while doing a rally, he cited a letter as ‘evidence of foreign conspiracy’ against his government. Without sharing much of the exact details of the letter, he explicitly named USA as the foreign conspirator, however, it turned out that the PM faltered. It was later exposed that the letter had conversations between purported American and Pakistani officials in which the US wasn’t too pleased with Imran Khan’s visit to the Kremlin on the day Russia attacked Ukraine. 

All this comes at a time when Imran Khan is at a very critical juncture of his political career when he lost the majority after a series of defections from his alliance. The no-confidence motion is likely to be voted upon on April 3. Meanwhile, immediately after taking the additional charge of the Ministry of Law and Justice, Fawad Chaudhry ordered the formation of a commission to look into the ‘global conspiracy’ angle.

Image: AP