The US has again rejected accusations by former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan that Washington had orchestrated a conspiracy to remove him from power.
The US response came days after Imran Khan said he would restore relations with Washington if re-elected (Photo: File)
By Press Trust of India: The US has once again categorically rejected former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan’s allegations that Washington orchestrated a conspiracy to remove him from power and reiterated its determination not to let “propaganda, misinformation and disinformation” affect bilateral ties.
The sharp US response came on Wednesday, days after Khan said he would restore relations with Washington if he is re-elected and no longer blames it for his resignation as Pakistan’s prime minister.
“As we’ve said before, there’s — there isn’t and there never has been truth in these allegations, but I have nothing extra to offer,” said Vedant Patel of the US State Department at a news conference, when asked to comment on Pakistan’s Tehreek-e-Insaf chief’s apparent U-turn over the alleged conspiracy.
Khan, 70, who was ousted in April on a no-confidence vote, claimed he was the result of a conspiracy between Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the US, Pakistan’s leading security partner who has provided the country with billions of dollars. dollar military aid.
In a recent interview with the Financial Times newspaper after an assassination attempt this month on November 3, Khan said he no longer “blames” the US and wants a “dignified” relationship if he is re-elected.
“As far as I’m concerned, it’s over, it’s behind me,” he told the British financial newspaper.
Khan has repeatedly claimed that Donald Lu, the top South Asia official in the US State Department, was involved in the “foreign conspiracy” to overthrow his government.
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During Wednesday’s press conference, Patel emphasized that the US sees a prosperous and democratic Pakistan as crucial to Washington’s interests.
“And we don’t have a position on one party’s political candidate versus the other. We support the peaceful enforcement of democratic, constitutional and legal principles,” Patel said.
“Ultimately, we will not let any bilateral relationship, including our valued bilateral partner with Pakistan, get in the way of propaganda, disinformation and misinformation,” the Indian-origin spokesman added.
On Wednesday, Khan said in another interview with news channel France 24 that he had never backtracked on his claims about the foreign conspiracy that led to the overthrow of his government.
In the latest interview, Khan said he had a figure in which Lu told Pakistan’s ambassador to Washington, Asad Majeed Khan, that there would be consequences if he was not impeached by the vote of no confidence.
So that’s exactly what I said. I never got back to this. The figure exists. It was put on the shelf. It was placed before National Security [Committee]. It’s now with the chief justice where we wanted him to conduct an independent inquiry,” Khan said.
The former cricketer turned politician claimed that the opposition vote of no confidence against him in April this year was the result of a foreign conspiracy because of his independent foreign policy towards Islamabad’s ties to countries such as China and Russia and there funds were funneled abroad to oust him from power.
Critics accuse Khan of further jeopardizing the country’s economic prospects by damaging relations with the US, the IMF and other international partners on which poor Pakistan depends for funding.
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