USA behind removing of Imran Khan as PM: Reports

According to a report citing classified Pakistani document, the US state Department in a meeting on March 7, 2022 encouraged the Pakistani government to remove Imran Khan as the country’s Prime Minister over his neutrality in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

This meeting between the Pakistani ambassador to the US and the two US State Department officials has been a matter of intense scrutiny, controversy, and speculation in Pakistan over the past year and a half as the former Pakistan PM and his military and civilian opponents struggled for power.

The political struggle went for the worse in Pakistan when on the 5^th August when Khan was sentenced to three years in prison on corruption charges, according to The Intercept report. However, Khan’s supporters have denied the charges, terming them baseless. The decision announced by the court also blocks Khan from contesting polls expected in Pakistan later this year. One month after the meeting with US officials was revealed in the Pakistan government’s document, a no-confidence vote was held in Parliament, resulting in Khan’s ouster from power.

In March last year, Pakistan’s then Prime Minister Imran Khan raised the foreign conspiracy charge. While addressing the nation amid his coalition government seemingly losing the majority after losing the support of some allies, Khan said, “A foreign nation sent a message to us that Imran Khan needs to be removed else Pakistan will suffer consequences,” he said.

Referring to the foreign conspiracy letter, he said its language “was threatening and arrogant”. On March 27, Khan had waved the letter at a public rally saying a foreign conspiracy was afoot to oust him. He had sought to link the opposition’s no-confidence motion with a foreign-funded move to topple his government.  

The text of the Pakistani cable, known as “cypher”, produced from the meeting by the ambassador and transmitted to Pakistan has revealed the methods used by the US State Department in its push against Imran Khan, promising warmer ties with Islamabad if Khan was removed, and isolation if he was not, The Intercept reported. 

The document, titled ‘Secret’, includes an account of the meeting between US State Department officials, including Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu and Asad Majeed Khan, who was then Pakistan’s ambassador to the US. According to the report an anonymous source in the Pakistani military has provided the document to The Intercept. 

The document, titled ‘Secret’, includes an account of the meeting between US State Department officials, including Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu and Asad Majeed Khan, who was then-Pakistan’s ambassador to the US. An anonymous source in the Pakistani military has provided the document to The Intercept. 

The cable includes the carrots and sticks used by the US State Department in its push against then Pakistan PM Imran Khan. The dynamics of the Pakistan-US ties mentioned in the cable were subsequently borne out by events, according to The Intercept report.

According to the document, Lu said, “people here and in Europe are quite concerned about why Pakistan is taking such an aggressively neutral position (on Ukraine), if such a position is even possible. It does not seem such a neutral stand to us”, The Intercept quoted Lu as saying in the document.  Lu further said that he had held internal discussions with the US National Security Council and it “seems quite clear that this is the Prime Minister’s policy”.

On the issue of the no-confidence vote, The Intercept quoted Donald Lu as saying, “I think if the no-confidence vote against the Prime Minister succeeds, all will be forgiven in Washington because the Russia visit is being looked at as a decision by the Prime Minister.” He added, “I think it will be tough going ahead.”

Lu had warned that Pakistan would be marginalised by its Western allies if the situation was not resolved. He had said, “I cannot tell how this will be seen by Europe but I suspect their reaction will be similar,” adding that Khan could face isolation by Europe and the US should he remain in office.

Asked about Lu’s quotes in the Pakistani cable, US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said, “Nothing in these purported comments shows the United States taking a position on who the leader of Pakistan should be.”

According to the document, the discussion concluded with the Pakistani ambassador expressing hope that the Russia-Ukraine conflict would not affect the bilateral ties between Islamabad and Washington. Lu had said the damage was real but not fatal and with Imran Khan gone, the ties could return to normal, The Intercept reported. 

Lu said, “I would argue that it has already created a dent in the relationship from our perspective.” He further said, “Let us wait for a few days to see whether the political situation changes, which would mean that we would not have a big disagreement about this issue and the dent would go away very quickly. Otherwise, we will have to confront this issue head on and decide how to manage it.”