US rubbishes Imran Khan’s claim of meddling in Pakistan politics

The US has refuted Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s charge that it was behind bringing trust vote against the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf government on April 3.

“We are closely following developments in Pakistan. We respect, we support Pakistan’s constitutional process and the rule of law,” US State Department spokesperson Ned Price told media persons during the daily news briefing at the White House.

“But when it comes to those allegations, there is no truth to them,” Price said when asked that Khan in his address to the nation said there was a threat letter that perfectly shows evidence of a foreign conspiracy to oust his government.

Pakistan has not been in very good terms with the US, of late. The differences peaked after the Imran Khan government declined an invitation to US President Joe Biden’s democracy summit in December. Islamabad’s continued interference in the Taliban government has not gone down well with the Biden administration either.

Also read: No matter what the result of no-trust vote, I will return stronger, says Imran

In a live address to the nation on Thursday, 69-year-old Khan said he would return stronger no matter what the result of the no-trust vote would be. Khan needs 172 votes in the lower house of 342 to foil the Opposition’s bid to topple him.

He named the US as the country behind the threat in what appeared to be a slip of tongue. “…Our policy was not anti-US, -Europe, or even India […] it became anti-Indian after New Delhi revoked the special status of Kashmir and broke international law in August 2019,” said Khan, who insisted that the Kashmir dispute remained a big issue between the two countries.

Khan said that it was an “official letter” that was communicated to Pakistan’s ambassador, who was taking notes during the meeting. He said the foreign official knew that the ones who would come into power after him would have no issues taking orders from external forces.