Secret Pak Document Points At American Hand Behind Imran Khan's Ouster, Says Report But US Denies

According to a report, a classified Pakistan government document has implied that the US was behind former Prime Minister Imran Khan's ouster over his stand on Russia's Ukraine invasion.

A classified Pakistan government document has implied that the US was behind former Prime Minister Imran Khan's ouster over his stand on Russia's Ukraine invasion, according to a report.

A secret document of the Pakistan government has pointed at a US role behind former prime minister Imran Khan's ouster over his neutral stand on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a report carried by The Intercept has said. However, the US has dismissed all the allegations and said the US never interfered in the internal matter of Pakistan. 

US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said, "It's a report, reported to be a Pakistani document, can't say whether it is an actual Pakistani document or not. With respect to the comments that were reported, not going to speak to private diplomatic exchanges other than to say that even if those comments were accurate as reported, they in no way show the United States taking a position on who the leader of Pakistan ought to be. We expressed concern privately to the government of Pakistan as we expressed publicly about the visit of the then prime minister Khan to Moscow on the very day of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. We made that concern quite clear as the former Pakistani ambassador of the United States himself has stated the allegations that the United States has interfered in the internal decisions about the leadership of Pakistan are false. They have always been false and they remain false."

What The Report Says

The secret document revealed what allegedly transpired in the meeting between the former Pakistani ambassador to the US, Asad Majeed Khan, and two US State Department officials, including Donald Lu, on March 7, 2022. A day after the meeting, a no-trust motion was moved against Imran Khan on March 8 and he was ousted on April 10.

The report claimed the text of the Pakistani cable, known as a 'cypher', revealed that the US state department promised warmer relations if Khan was removed, and isolation if he was not.

Labelled as 'secret', the document, as claimed by the report, provided an account of the meeting between State Department officials, including Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu, and then Pakistan envoy to the US, Asad Majeed Khan.

The Intercept claimed that an anonymous source provided it with the document.

The diplomatic meeting was held two weeks after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which was launched on the same day when Imran Khan visited Moscow. The visit infuriated Washington.

According to the report, the secret document revealed that Donald Lu explicitly expressed Washington's displeasure with Pakistan's stance in the Ukraine conflict. He was quoted in the document as saying, "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,” adding that “it seems quite clear that this is the Prime Minister’s policy.”

US Raises Issue Of No-Trust Vote Against Khan

In the document, as claimed by the report, Lu also raised the issue of a no-confidence vote against Imran Khan. He was quoted 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 also said, “Otherwise, I think it will be tough going ahead.”

The document said the meeting ended with the Pakistani ambassador expressing hope that the issue of the Russia-Ukraine war would not “impact our bilateral ties.” He was told by Lu told that the damage was real but not fatal, and with Khan's removal, the relationship could go back to normal. 

“I would argue that it has already created a dent in the relationship from our perspective,” Lu said as said in the document. “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,” Lu was quoted as saying.

The document also said Lu warned that if the situation wasn’t resolved, Pakistan would be marginalized by its Western allies. He 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 if he was not removed.