Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s leader Shandana Gulzar has claimed that she was one of the people contacted by a foreign embassy earlier this year. She said Intelligence Bureau had published reports regarding these meetings held in January and February.
Talking to a news channel, Gulzar said she was approached by three people who questioned her regarding her views on Maulana Fazlul Rehman, Nawaz Sharif, Maryam Nawaz, and if she thinks Bilawal Bhutto is the future of Pakistan. Although the MNA was not offered any deal in a session that continued for one and a half hours, she immediately reported Prime Minister Imran Khan, Speaker of the National Assembly Asad Qaiser, and Defence Minister Pervez Khattak.
Read more: How America lost Pakistan?
Gulzar went on to say that the US has been angry with Pakistan since the Taliban took over Afghanistan in August last year. Even though in 2003-4, French and German ambassadors issued communiqués to the US, urging it to befriend the Taliban because it could not win the Afghan war. She went on to say that Washington is angry at the defeat in the US, and so it wants to put an end to China Pakistan Economic Corridor.
Gulzar’s claims vindicate PM Khan’s claim that the US “threatened” him and is seeking his removal from office after the opposition filed a no-confidence motion against him in the parliament. Therefore, the National Assembly Deputy Speaker Qasim Khan Suri blocked the vote on April 3, stating that it violated Article 5 of the Constitution, which calls for ‘loyalty to the state and obedience to constitution and law.’
I never wanted to be a slave to any country. When I came to power I decided we will have an independent foreign policy: Imran Khan
(But remember when he cancelled the Malaysia trip where he was a key speaker? Selective khud mukhtari😬)
— Atika Rehman (@AtikaRehman) March 31, 2022
During a national address on March 31, Khan claimed the letter read: “If the vote of no confidence succeeds, we will forgive you. If it does not succeed, and Imran Khan remains the prime minister, then Pakistan will be in a difficult situation.”
Khan said in his address: “I never wanted to be a slave to any country. When I came to power I decided we will have an independent foreign policy.”
Later, in an address to the parliamentarians, Khan was quoted as saying that US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu had reportedly, in a meeting with Ambassador Asad Majeed, warned there could be implications if he survived the opposition’s no-confidence motion in the National Assembly.
Khan said he had reports that PTI dissidents had frequented the (US) embassy. “What were the reasons that the people, who have left us, met people of the embassy frequently in the last few days,” he wondered.
Read more: Washington should move from “Regime Change” to “Regime Engagement”
The National Security Council also condemned the involvement of an external force in the no-confidence motion during a meeting that Khan chaired, and the Foreign Office subsequently issued a demarche to the concerned country. On Wednesday, the Supreme Court sought minutes of the NSC meeting from the government and adjourned till Thursday.