View: With so many cases, little chance of former Pakistan PM Imran Khan walking free
Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan was not completely off the mark when he publicly accused the United States of ensuring his removal as prime minister through a no-confidence motion with the help of the army in April last year. He had waved a paper at every public rally claiming the same to be a diplomatic cable from Asad Majeed Khan, Pakistan's Ambassador to the US, dated March 7, 2022, in which the US had used threatening language against him.
The same diplomatic cypher cable now leaked by «The Intercept» on August 9, 2023, did mention that Donald Lu, the US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, had made it clear to Asad Majeed Khan that Imran's continued presence in Moscow when Russia attacked Ukraine (February 24, 2022) had not gone down well in Washington. The US suspected that China had a role to play in fixing this visit during the Beijing Olympics, where Khan had gone to witness the opening ceremony a few days before he went to Russia.
In a veiled threat, Donald Lu is quoted to have told Pakistan's ambassador «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. Otherwise, I think it will be tough going ahead.» Dangling a carrot in front of the Pak ambassador, Donald Lu, said that «the damage was real, but not fatal, and with Khan gone, the relationship could go back to normal.» A week before the meeting between Donald Lu and Asad Majeed Khan, the ambassadors of the EU and Japan in Pakistan had sought the support of the Pakistan government for the resolution in the UN General Assembly condemning the Russian aggression.
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