Pakistan’s mighty military has denied Prime Minister Imran Khan’s remarks accusing the US of plotting to topple his government and said there was no evidence of interference in the country’s internal affairs.
Prime Minister Khan had chaired a meeting of the National Security Committee (NSC) on March 27 to discuss the issue of a threatening letter to oust his government.
A statement issued after the meeting expressed concern over the non-diplomatic language used in the cable, saying it amounted to interference in Pakistan’s internal affairs. The NSC then decided to issue a demarcation to the United States.
Khan pushed the narrative that top military leaders backed the letter and that its threatening context was genuine. Later, National Assembly deputy speaker Qasim Suri used this statement to block a vote on a no-confidence motion in a development that sparked a constitutional crisis.
However, official sources told The Express Tribune newspaper on Monday that there was a misconception about the military leadership endorsing the government’s view. A source said the Prime Minister may make the minutes of the meeting public as the NSC statement was meant only for the media.
“Are there any minutes of the NSC meeting? Have all the participants signed the minutes of the meeting, the source asked. He said that the minutes of the meeting are considered as official documents only when signed by all the participants of NSC. This shows that the military leadership did not sign the minutes of the meeting.
The source further said that the US had not sent any letter to the government and it was an assessment of Masood Khan, Pakistan’s ambassador to the US, after a meeting with US officials. The source said there was no evidence of any link between the no-confidence vote and the diplomatic cable that had led to the ongoing political and constitutional crisis.
In a live address to the nation last week, 69-year-old Khan discussed a ‘danger letter’ and termed it as part of a foreign conspiracy to remove him as he was not acceptable to follow an independent foreign policy . He took the name of America on the back of the threatening letter, which seemed to be slip of tongue. The US State Department has strongly rejected Prime Minister Khan’s remarks on Washington’s role in an alleged foreign conspiracy to oust him from power.
The US also said that it did not send any letter to Pakistan on the current political situation in the country as it sought to refute allegations of US involvement in the no-confidence motion against the Imran Khan-led government. The recent speech by Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa is another indication that the military leadership was reluctant to support the allegations of conspiracy by the Prime Minister, The Express Tribune reported.
The Army Chief said that Pakistan has an excellent and long-standing relationship with the United States of America and the US is Pakistan’s largest export partner. The mighty Pakistani military, which has ruled the coup-prone country for more than half of its 73-plus years of existence, has so far wielded considerable power in matters of security and foreign policy.
General Bajwa’s statement on the Russian-Ukraine conflict also differed from the stand taken by him.
read all breaking news , today’s fresh news And IPL 2022 Live Updates Here.