New Delhi: Ousted Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan Monday demanded that Washington sack US State Department official Donald Lu, reiterating his claim that the US had been involved in a “conspiracy” to topple his government.
In an interview with CNN‘s Becky Anderson, Khan said his government enjoyed better relations with the erstwhile Trump administration, as opposed to Biden’s.
“I had a perfectly good relationship with the Trump administration,” he added, saying that it’s only “when the Biden administration came and it coincided with what was going on in Afghanistan” that the relationship deteriorated. “For some reason, which I still don’t know, they never got in touch with me, there was no US ambassador to Pakistan,” Khan said.
Terming the government in Pakistan led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif “a bunch of criminals” who rode to power with Washington’s “blessings”, Imran Khan told CNN: “Sixty per cent of the cabinet is out on bail.”
He also spoke about his visit to Moscow on the day Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, and how his decision to continue Russian imports led to him being branded “anti-American”.
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‘Lu should be sacked for bad manners’
Days before he was ousted from office through a no-confidence motion this April, Imran Khan had accused Donald Lu, the Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, of attempting to meddle in Pakistan’s affairs by sending him a “threatening letter” through Asad Majeed, Pakistan’s ambassador to the US.
While Pakistan’s National Security Council (NSC) did issue a demarche to Washington over “non-diplomatic language used in the cable” communicated through Majeed, it did not back Khan’s claims about a “foreign conspiracy” to topple his coalition government.
The US, too, rubbished claims that there was a conspiracy targeting Khan.
“This was a blatant intervention in the internal affairs of Pakistan. A regime change…” Khan told CNN, adding that America’s involvement in regime changes in Iran and South America was no secret.
“This guy (Donald Lu) should be sacked for bad manners and sheer arrogance,” he added.
Khan alleged that, prior to Lu’s meeting with Majeed, the US embassy in Islamabad held meetings with “backbenchers” of his party — Pakistan Tehreek-e Insaf or PTI — to offer them bribes.
“The US embassy was calling members of my party who were some of the backbenchers that were not happy, and they were the first ones who jumped ship. They were the ones who then offered a million dollars each to buy my other members of parliament, who actually jumped ship later on,” Khan claimed.
In late March, Khan’s government lost its majority in the National Assembly after its key ally, Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) Pakistan, aligned with the opposition Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).
‘Didn’t know about Russian invasion’
During the CNN interview, Imran Khan was also asked about the timing of his trip to Moscow — termed by analysts “ill-timed” and “foolhardy” — on 24 February, the day Russia launched its invasion on Ukraine.
“This visit was planned a long time back… The military wanted hardware from the Russians. We wanted oil. There was a gas pipeline which was being negotiated for the past six years, before my government came in,” Khan said, adding, “How would I know that the day I land in Moscow, President Putin decides to go into Ukraine?”
The former prime minister also said that, unlike India, Pakistan was viewed through the lens of “anti-Americanism” for wanting to continue the import of Russian oil and wheat at lower rates amid the war in Ukraine.
“Two hundred and twenty million people of Pakistan elected me. My first responsibility is to the people of Pakistan. My responsibility is for their well-being. We have 50 million people living below the poverty line,” Khan said.
“So when Russia offers us 30 per cent discount on oil and 30 per cent discount on wheat imports — India does the same. India is part of the Quad, part of the strategic alliance with the US…But for some reason, this was taken against me, as though I was being anti-US or anti-American,” he told CNN.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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