ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s powerful military on Thursday (Apr 14) dismissed ousted Prime Minister Imran Khan’s accusation that the United States had conspired to topple him in a parliamentary vote of confidence.
Khan, 69, who led the nuclear-armed South Asian country of 220 million people for 3.5 years, accused Washington of backing his ouster because he had visited Moscow against US advice. Washington denies the charge.
Khan met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Feb 24, the day Russian forces invaded neighbouring Ukraine.
Khan initially blocked the no-confidence move, saying a forum of civil and military leaders, the National Security Committee, had endorsed the alleged conspiracy.
The military’s spokesman, Major General Babar Iftikhar, denied this.
“You can see clearly whether there’s any word of conspiracy in that statement. I don’t think so,” he told a news conference in reference to an NSC statement this month which had expressed concern over non-diplomatic language used in a cable from a “foreign country”, widely assumed to mean the United States, about the no-confidence vote.
Pakistan’s lower house of parliament eventually voted in favour of removing Khan from office on Sunday.
Opposition parties and analysts say the military helped Khan win election in 2018, which they both deny, but that support waned after a falling-out over the appointment of the country’s next intelligence chief late last year.
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