Pakistan summons US diplomat following PM's accusation of US trying to topple his government

BreaknLinks

Islamabad ~ Pakistan
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan. (Photo: The Telegraph)

On Friday, according to media reports, Pakistan summoned a senior US envoy here and issued a strong protest against America's alleged "interference" in its internal affairs.

The US State Department categorically dismissed embattled Prime Minister Imran Khan's allegations on Thursday regarding Washington's suspected complicity in an alleged foreign plot to depose him.

Khan, 69, revealed a 'threat letter' in a live address to the country, describing it as part of a foreign conspiracy to depose him for pursuing an independent foreign policy. In what looked like a slip of the tongue, he identified the US as the country behind the threat letter.

According to Dunya News, the Foreign Office (FO) called the US envoy in response to a threatening letter warning of terrible consequences if the Opposition's motion of no-confidence in Khan failed.

The move follows Pakistan's National Security Council (NSC).

Additionally, the Foreign Office presented the US envoy with a letter of protest on the language used by a foreign official during a formal communication.

According to the report, the US official was warned that "interference in Pakistan's internal affairs is unacceptable."

The NSC resolved to issue a solid demarche to the countries that voiced concern with Pakistan's Ukraine policy during an interaction. Pakistan's Ambassador to the United States, Masood Khan, later submitted a letter to the Foreign Office.

Prime Minister Khan connected the letter to the Opposition's no-confidence vote in the National Assembly. On Sunday, the National Assembly is due to vote on the no-confidence resolution.

Khan's address came at a pivotal point in his political career when he lost the majority of his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party. Two of his affiliated parties also abandoned him and joined the Opposition.

The US maintained that it did not write to Pakistan regarding the country's present political crisis to dispute allegations that America was involved in the no-confidence motion against Imran Khan's government.

On February 24, Khan met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin the same day the Russian leader ordered a "special military operation" against Ukraine. Khan also became Pakistan's first prime to visit Russia in 23 years, following former premier Nawaz Sharif's 1999 visit.

Publish : 2022-04-01 11:43:00

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