WASHINGTON: Accused directly by Pakistan’s prime minister Imran Khan of trying to oust him from power, the United States on Monday rejected the charges — including Khan’s naming of a state department official who he said was trying to engineer a regime change — while expressing support for a constitutional process and rule of law in the country.
“There is no truth to these allegations. We respect and support Pakistan’s constitutional process and the rule of law,” a state department spokesperson told ToI, even as Pakistan plunged into a political crisis, with the opposition accusing Khan of subverting the constitution by torpedoing a vote of confidence that he looked certain to lose.
The fall and fall of Pakistan’s PM
1. The tragic self-destruction of Imran Khan
2. My prediction of Imran being Pak’s Trump is coming true’
3. Imran Khan’s fall from grace is his own fault
4. How Imran has come so close to losing power
The US official said Washington is “closely following developments in Pakistan,” even as the matter of constitutional propriety was taken to the country’s Supreme Court which adjourned a hearing on the matter till Monday. The US statement in the context of charges of Khan’s constitutional impropriety suggested implicitly that it did not approve of his moves.
Earlier, Imran Khan dropped all pretense of the US role he had alleged by euphemistically referring to a “foreign power” rather than naming it directly. In a meeting with his partymen, he went even further, directly named Donald Lu, the Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, as the person who had purportedly sought a regime change in Islamabad if ties between the US and Pakistan were to improve.
Lu, a 30-year veteran of the State Department, is former ambassador to Albania and Kyrgystan, served as a political counselor in New Delhi in the 90s, and is currently the State Department pointperson for the region.
According to Khan, Lu had held out threats to Pakistan in a meeting with Pakistan’s outgoing Ambassador Asad Majeed Khan, warning there could be implications if he (Imran Khan) survived the opposition’s no-confidence motion in the National Assembly.
Why no-trust vote isn’t about politics
1. How Imran Khan has turned average Pakistani into a loser
2. Why ‘aloo, tamatar’ is a bigger threat to Imran than Pak politics
3. Why Pakistan is a difficult country to be a prime minister
4. Why Imran’s replacement won’t have it easy too
While Khan initially alleged there was a “letter” to this effect, it transpires that what he was referring to were minutes of a meeting Lu purportedly had with the Pakistani envoy, which Khan’s critics say could well have been the interpretation of the ambassador of Lu’s assessment of the situation, something he is well placed to do as a pointperson for the region.
In fact, according to Pakistani analysts, the so-called “letter” from Ambassador Asad Majeed Khan minutes of the meeting itself is doctored because it is dated March 7, whereas the US official’s engagement with the Pakistani envoy was on March 16, following which the ambassador even thanked him for his “perspectives.”
But according to Khan, the US had sent “threatening messages” through the Pakistani envoy in language that was “undiplomatic” and “arrogant.” He also accused lawmakers of his own party who have deserted him and signed up with the opposition in the no-confidence move, of consorting with the US Embassy in Islamabad oust him from power.
“There is no truth to these allegations. We respect and support Pakistan’s constitutional process and the rule of law,” a state department spokesperson told ToI, even as Pakistan plunged into a political crisis, with the opposition accusing Khan of subverting the constitution by torpedoing a vote of confidence that he looked certain to lose.
The fall and fall of Pakistan’s PM
1. The tragic self-destruction of Imran Khan
2. My prediction of Imran being Pak’s Trump is coming true’
3. Imran Khan’s fall from grace is his own fault
4. How Imran has come so close to losing power
The US official said Washington is “closely following developments in Pakistan,” even as the matter of constitutional propriety was taken to the country’s Supreme Court which adjourned a hearing on the matter till Monday. The US statement in the context of charges of Khan’s constitutional impropriety suggested implicitly that it did not approve of his moves.
Earlier, Imran Khan dropped all pretense of the US role he had alleged by euphemistically referring to a “foreign power” rather than naming it directly. In a meeting with his partymen, he went even further, directly named Donald Lu, the Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, as the person who had purportedly sought a regime change in Islamabad if ties between the US and Pakistan were to improve.
Lu, a 30-year veteran of the State Department, is former ambassador to Albania and Kyrgystan, served as a political counselor in New Delhi in the 90s, and is currently the State Department pointperson for the region.
According to Khan, Lu had held out threats to Pakistan in a meeting with Pakistan’s outgoing Ambassador Asad Majeed Khan, warning there could be implications if he (Imran Khan) survived the opposition’s no-confidence motion in the National Assembly.
Why no-trust vote isn’t about politics
1. How Imran Khan has turned average Pakistani into a loser
2. Why ‘aloo, tamatar’ is a bigger threat to Imran than Pak politics
3. Why Pakistan is a difficult country to be a prime minister
4. Why Imran’s replacement won’t have it easy too
While Khan initially alleged there was a “letter” to this effect, it transpires that what he was referring to were minutes of a meeting Lu purportedly had with the Pakistani envoy, which Khan’s critics say could well have been the interpretation of the ambassador of Lu’s assessment of the situation, something he is well placed to do as a pointperson for the region.
In fact, according to Pakistani analysts, the so-called “letter” from Ambassador Asad Majeed Khan minutes of the meeting itself is doctored because it is dated March 7, whereas the US official’s engagement with the Pakistani envoy was on March 16, following which the ambassador even thanked him for his “perspectives.”
But according to Khan, the US had sent “threatening messages” through the Pakistani envoy in language that was “undiplomatic” and “arrogant.” He also accused lawmakers of his own party who have deserted him and signed up with the opposition in the no-confidence move, of consorting with the US Embassy in Islamabad oust him from power.