US denies role in Pakistan’s politics

THE US has asserted that it did not send any letter to Pakistan on the current political situation in the south Asian country, a media report said on Thursday (31). 

Pakistan's embattled prime minister Imran Khan has recently claimed the opposition's no-confidence motion against his government is the result of a “foreign conspiracy” because of his external policy.

Khan said funds were being channelled from abroad to oust him from power.

On Wednesday (31), his government said its allegation about the foreign conspiracy was based on a diplomatic cable received from one of the country's missions abroad.

The government initially offered to share the letter with the Chief Justice of Pakistan and later the prime minister briefed his cabinet members about its contents, the Dawn newspaper said.

A group of journalists was then provided with minutes of the cabinet meeting.

Though no foreign government was named in that meeting, reporters were informed that a Pakistani envoy was told by a senior official of the host country they had issues with Khan's foreign policy, especially his visit to Russia and the stance on the ongoing Ukrainian war, the report said.

Earlier this month, Pakistan abstained from voting in United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) resolution calling on Russia to stop the war and urged that the conflict be resolved through dialogue and diplomacy.

According to Dawn, the Pakistani envoy was  told that the future trajectory of relations between the two countries was contingent upon the fate of the no-confidence motion that the Opposition parties were then planning to bring against Khan.

The envoy was warned of serious implications if Khan survived the no-trust vote, it said.

The cable was reportedly sent on March 7, a day before the opposition submitted the no-confidence motion and requisitioned a National Assembly session for voting on it.

The cable was sent by Pakistan's then-ambassador to the US, Asad Majeed, after his meeting with assistant secretary of state for south and central Asian Affairs Donald Lu, the newspaper reported.

Ambassador Majeed has now moved to Brussels to take up his new assignment and has been replaced by ambassador Masood Khan.

Meanwhile, the US State Department said no American government agency or official had sent any letter to Pakistan on the current political situation in the country, the report said.

Responding to questions about the alleged letter and the “US involvement” in the no-confidence motion, a State Department spokesperson said: “There is no truth to these allegations."

According to some diplomatic sources in Washington, the letter could be a diplomatic cable from Washington, drafted by a senior Pakistani diplomat.

“The contents of the letter, apparently, are based on informal discussions between Pakistani and other officials,” the Dawn quoted one diplomatic source as saying.

“The contents, if correct, show a set of friendly officials from various countries indulging in some loud-thinking and probing. Nothing more,” the source added.

The sources said such conversations often happened in capital cities around the world and diplomats often shared the contents of such conversations with authorities in their home countries.

“The purpose behind such cables is to keep your government informed. It's no sign of a conspiracy against a government or a personality,” another diplomatic source was quoted as saying in the report.

(PTI)