\u2018Complete falsehood
\n\u201cI wanna be very clear on this point [that] this conspiracy theory is a lie,\u201d says US assistant secretary of state
\nislamabad
\nDonald Lu, the US Assistant Secretary of State, has yet again rejected former prime minister Imran Khan\u2019s allegations that US engineered his ouster from power by supporting the then opposition\u2019s no-confidence motion in April 2022.
\nTestifying before a Congressional panel on Wednesday, the top US diplomat said: \u201cI wanna be very clear on this point [that] this conspiracy theory is a lie [and ] it is a complete falsehood.\u201d
\nThe hearing titled \u2018Pakistan After the elections: Examining the future of Democracy in Pakistan and the US Pakistan relationship,\u2019 was announced by the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee where the assistant secretary was the key witness.
\nWhen asked about the allegations of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder, the US assistant secretary said he viewed the media reports regarding the alleged leaked cipher that Khan claimed contained the threat issued by Lu in a meeting with then-Pakistan\u2019s ambassador Asad Majeed in Washington in 2022 days before the ouster of the PTI-led government.
\n\u201cAt no point does it accuse the United States government or me personally of taking steps against Imran Khan,\u201d he added.
\nMoreover, the US diplomat said then Pakistan\u2019s envoy to Washington Asad Majeed also testified to his government that there was no conspiracy.
\n\u201cWe respect the sovereignty of Pakistan, we respect the principle that Pakistani people should be the only ones to choose their leader through democratic process,\u201d he remarked.
\nThe cipher controversy first emerged on March 27, 2022, when Khan \u2014 less than a month before his ouster in April 2022 \u2014 while addressing a public rally waved a letter before the crowd, claiming that it was a cipher from a foreign nation that had conspired with his political rivals to have PTI government overthrown.
\nHe did not reveal the contents of the letter nor did he mention the name of the nation it came from. But a few days later, he accused the United States of conspiring against him and alleged that Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Affairs Donald Lu had sought his removal.
\nThe cipher was sent by then Pakistan\u2019s ambassador to US Asad Majeed.
\nUS demands probe into rigging allegations
\nSpeaking about the February 8 general election, the assistant secretary called for an investigation into the electoral fraud claims, saying that the US is closely monitoring the probe into the rigging allegations.
\nHe also mentioned \u201cundue restrictions on freedom of expression, and peaceful assembly\u201d during the February 8 polls.
\n\u201cWe condemn the electoral violence and restrictions on human and fundamental rights and restriction on internet services,\u201d the US diplomat added.
\nLu said the US wanted the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to hold those accountable involved in the election rigging, saying they would encourage the Pakistani government and the poll authority to make the process transparent.
\nHe said more than 5,000 independent election observers were in the field to monitor the elections in Pakistan and their \u201corganisations\u2019 conclusion was that the conduct of the election was largely competitive and orderly while noting some irregularities in the completion of the results\u201d.
\nTerming Pakistan an important partner of the US, the assistant secretary said Washington shared commitment to strengthening Pakistan\u2019s democratic institution, supporting the US-Pakistan Green Alliance framework, and cooperating to counter threats from groups like al Qaeda and Daesh.
\n\u2018Pakistan facing mounting debt challenge\u2019
\nCommenting on the country\u2019s economic situation, the top diplomat told the Congress committee that Pakistan is facing a mounting debt challenge and this year nearly 70% of the federal government\u2019s revenue is expected to go to payment to service this massive debt.
\n\u201cPakistan needs economic reforms and private sector-led investment to deliver economic growth for the people and not dig their government deeper into debt,\u201d he added.
\n\u201cPakistani people deserve a country that\u2019s peaceful, democratic and prosperous [and] we are working very day to support that vision.\u201d
\nOn bilateral ties between the two countries, Lu said the US is at \u201cinflection point\u201d in its relationship with Pakistan.
\nHe explained that Afghanistan has been in conflict for 40 years and Pakistan caught up in that conflict too.
\n\u201cThe end of the war in Afghanistan provides us an opportunity to have a relationship with Pakistan on its term,\u201d the assistant secretary said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u2018Complete falsehood \u201cI wanna be very clear on this point [that] this conspiracy theory is a lie,\u201d says US assistant secretary of state islamabad Donald Lu, the US Assistant Secretary of State, has yet again rejected former prime minister Imran Khan\u2019s allegations that US engineered his ouster from power by supporting the then opposition\u2019s no-confidence …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":62284,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-62299","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62299","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62299"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62299\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":62311,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62299\/revisions\/62311"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/62284"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62299"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62299"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62299"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}