On Thursday, the foreign office of Pakistan summoned the U.S. Chargé d’affaires to its office. According to media reports, the office registered a strong protest over America’s involvement in the country’s internal affairs. The protest was lodged in response to a threatening letter Pakistan received on the 7th of March, which warned of grave consequences if the no-trust motion against the sitting Prime Minister failed.
It is important to mention that on the 7th of March, the opposition had not even decided to submit a no-trust resolution against the government. Hence, a reference to a no-trust motion roused concerns over a “foreign funded conspiracy” against the PTI-led government.
The U.S. envoy in Islamabad was summoned to the Foreign Office shortly after the conclusion of the National Security Council meeting. The National Security Council meeting was held against the backdrop of the purported “foreign funded conspiracy” against the government.
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The presence of a foreign-funded conspiracy was confirmed through a diplomatic cable received by the Pakistani foreign office. The cable contained the minutes of the meeting held in the United States following Imran Khan’s visit to Moscow.
In the minutes of the meeting, it was stated that the United States expressed its displeasure at Imran Khan’s visit to Moscow and deemed that Imran Khan was acting as a unitary actor in utter disregard for the country’s foreign policy. It added that if the vote of no confidence against Imran Khan fails, the country would have to face consequences.
In response, the National Security Council meeting expressed its concern over the interference in the country’s internal affairs and especially over the use of undiplomatic language by the U.S. delegates. The committee decided that such interference was unacceptable and agreed to issue a strong protest, following which, the U.S. Chargé d’affaires was summoned to the foreign office.
The committee also endorsed the decision taken in a cabinet meeting which called for an in-house camera briefing before the parliament. The meeting was attended by federal ministers for defense, energy, information, interior, finance, human rights, and planning, besides the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, services chiefs, national security adviser, and senior officers.
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However, the NSC made no comments regarding the content of the diplomatic cable and whether the letter constituted a foreign-funded conspiracy or not.
Responding to the allegations leveled against the United States, the White House Spokesperson rejected the claims as baseless on Friday. When a reporter asked the White House spokesperson what the United States had to say about the Prime Minister of Pakistan accusing the United States of working with the opposition to remove him from power, the spokesperson responded, “there is absolutely no truth to that.”
After US State Department, the White House also dismisses allegation by PM Imran Khan that Biden administration trying to oust him from power. ‘There’s absolutely no truth to that allegation.’ #AbsolutelyYes #AbsolutelyNot pic.twitter.com/Qr7WBToceh
— Murtaza Ali Shah (@MurtazaViews) March 31, 2022
Ever since Imran Khan came into power, relations between the United States and Pakistan have been contentious. In 2018 the United States suspended a $300 million aid to the country over what it called the government’s failure to take action against terrorists.
This was followed by Imran Khan’s famous “absolutely not” in response to a question by a journalist on whether Pakistan would allow U.S. bases to operate in the country following its withdrawal from Afghanistan. Relations hit a low point when the Prime Minister went to Russia just ahead of its Ukraine invasion.