Pak: No ‘foreign conspiracy’ to oust Khan govt
LAHORE: Pakistan’s National Security Committee (NSC) on Friday said there was no “foreign conspiracy” as claimed by former prime minister Imran Khan to topple his government.
“The NSC discussed the telegram received from the Pakistan Embassy in Washington. Pakistan’s former ambassador to the US briefed the committee on the context and content of his telegram,” the Committee said in a statement released after its meeting chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
The NSC is the highest forum in Pakistan for coordination on security issues.
The NSC said it examined the “contents of the communication” shared by the ambassador and “reaffirmed the decisions” of its last meeting, the Dawn newspaper reported.
“The NSC was again informed by the premier security agencies that they have found no evidence of any conspiracy,” the statement said, adding that the meeting concluded that “there has been no foreign conspiracy”.
Khan has been claiming that the Opposition’s no-confidence motion against him was the result of a “foreign conspiracy” because of his independent foreign policy and funds were being channelled from abroad to oust him from power.
Khan has alleged that Donald Lu, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs in the Department of State was involved in the “foreign conspiracy” to topple his government, a claim bluntly rejected by the US several times.
In a public rally in Islamabad on March 27, Khan first disclosed about the “letter” and claimed that it contained a threat to the Pakistan government from the US.
Khan demands early elections in the country
In a veiled warning to Pakistan’s military establishment, former prime minister Imran Khan has given an ultimatum to those who have ousted him to rectify their “mistake” by holding early elections or else his supporters will reach the capital to overthrow the “imported government”.
Addressing a rally of his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) at Minar-i-Pakistan in Lahore on Thursday night, Khan lashed out at the new coalition government led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and those who brought it to power.