The United States has once again refuted the allegations levelled by Prime Minister Imran Khan that it was seeking a regime change in Pakistan by supporting opposition parties’ no-confidence move against him.
“There is absolutely no truth to the allegations. As you heard from me last week, we support the peaceful upholding of constitutional democratic principles. That is the case in Pakistan; it is the case around the world,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in response to a question at a daily press briefing on Tuesday.
Premier Imran had claimed that there was a “foreign-funded plot” being hatched to oust his government through a vote of no-confidence motion moved by the opposition parties in the National Assembly.
Subsequently, President Arif Alvi on Sunday dissolved the lower house of parliament on the advice of PM Imran, hours after NA Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri declared the opposition’s no-trust move “unconstitutional” and prorogued the house without voting on it.
“We do not support one political party over another. We support the broader principles, the principles of rule of law, of equal justice under the law,” the spokesperson added.
Also read: PM Imran playing ‘US card’ to build up his support base: ex-American official
His statement comes as Russia accused the US of interfering in Pakistan’s political affairs.
Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Maria Zakharova said on Tuesday that the political development in Pakistan “leaves no doubt” that the United States intended to punish “disobedient” Prime Minister Imran.
A statement issued by the Russian foreign office harshly criticised the United States for being involved in an alleged conspiracy to overthrow the Pakistani premier, stating that the opposition was colluding with the Western superpower.
The Russian statement accused the US of “shameless interference” in the internal affairs of Pakistan for its own “selfish purposes”, claiming that PM Imran’s visit to Moscow on February 23 was a precursor to the motion of no-confidence tabled against him in the National Assembly.
The statement cited the ruling PTI’s claim, that US Deputy Secretary of State for South Asia Donald Lu called upon the Pakistani ambassador in Washington and subsequently called upon Ambassador Asad Majid to “condemn the balanced reaction of the Pakistani leadership to the events in Ukraine” as evidence of US involvement.