EDITORIAL: Since his removal from office through a no-confidence move last April former prime minister Imran Khan has been citing a diplomatic cipher from Pakistan’s ambassador to Washington to claim the US was behind a conspiracy for his government’s ouster, and calls the ruling coalition as an “imported government”.
Nevertheless, in an interview he gave to the British newspaper Financial Times the other day, he said he no longer blames the US. “As far as I’m concerned it’s over. It’s behind me,” he declared, adding that he wanted a dignified relationship between Washington and Islamabad.
Predictably, his detractors have pounced on this part of his statement to describe it as a renunciation of his conspiracy narrative although he also said “our relationship with the US has been as of a master-servant relationship, or a master-slave relationship, and we’ve been used like a hired gun [reference to the facilitative role Pakistan played in the two American adventures in Afghanistan]. But for that I blame my own governments more than the US.”
In simple words, he is saying as regards the US he is willing to let bygones be bygones. That does not mean he has given up his conspiracy allegation, but that it would not have succeeded without collusion of power players in this country.
Khan still mentions the controversial cipher in which US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian affairs Donald Lu purportedly told our ambassador that his country would forgive Pakistan if Imran Khan loses the no-confidence vote and “if it fails Pakistan will have to face tough time.”
No one has challenged the veracity of this threat. In fact, in a meeting held on March 31 the National Security Committee (NSC) had expressed “grave concern” over what was termed US’ intervention in this country’s internal affairs, and as per the NSC decision two demarches were made in Islamabad and Washington through diplomatic channels.
However, the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) parties have been contesting Khan’s assertions with outright rejection of the diplomatic cable as fake. However, after a second NSC meeting held under their own rule confirmed its existence but bizarrely said there is no evidence of US seeking regime change in Pakistan, the PDM leaders latched on to that stance.
It has been a while since President Arif Alvi sent a copy of the diplomatic cable to the Supreme Court with the request for formation of a judicial commission to probe the conspiracy allegation. So far there is no action on it, apparently, due to the sensitivities involved.
The US, of course, has a long track record of seeking regime changes in different parts of the world, the more recent successful examples being that of Iraq and Libya, and an abortive one in Syria.
A few months ago in an interview with CNN, an unashamed advocate of regime change former US national security adviser John Bolton admitted as much and talked of his government’s failed attempt at overthrow of the government of Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro.
One can think of quite a few reasons why the Biden administration might have wanted to see the back of Imran Khan, although while in office on different occasions he expressed a desire for this country to have strong ties with the US based on mutual respect.
All the same, he has rightly decided not to lay the blame for his problem at Washington’s door. Pakistan needs to have good relations with all countries, especially the US. It also needs to be said that in a world where the balance of power is shifting fast, there is no room for the idea of ‘American Exceptionalism’ which, includes a presumptive entitlement to get rid of uncontrollable governments in other states.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
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