Pakistan's top security forum rejects Imran Khan's 'foreign conspiracy' claims to topple his govt

Pakistan top security forum on Friday announced that there was no “foreign conspiracy” to topple the government of Imran Khan, rejecting the repeated claim of the former prime minister that the US plotted a regime change in Islamabad with the help of the Opposition parties.

In a statement released after its meeting chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the National Security Committee (NSC) said it discussed the telegram received from the Pakistan embassy in Washington last month which was used by Khan to portray his removal through no-confidence vote as a US conspiracy for following an independent foreign policy.

Asad Majeed Khan, former Pakistan’s ambassador to the US, who authored the cable, briefed the Committee on the context and content of his telegram, the statement said.

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“The NSC was again informed by the premier security agencies that they have found no evidence of any conspiracy. Therefore, the NSC after reviewing the contents of the communication, the assessments received, and the conclusions presented by the security agencies, concludes that there has been no foreign conspiracy,” it said.

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.

The alleged cable first surfaced when the former prime minister pulled out a document from the inner pocket of his waistcoat and waved it to his audience at a public rally in Islamabad on March 27 to assert that he was being a victim of international conspiracy.

Later, he made specific allegations that US assistant secretary for Central and South Asia, Donald Lu, threatened during a meeting with the Pakistan ambassador in Washington to remove Khan from power for not cooperating on the issue of Ukraine. The US has rebuffed the allegations multiple times.

Khan has also dubbed the Shehbaz Sharif government, which replaced him, as “imported” and vowed to fight it.

However, the NSC's unanimous decision rejecting the foreign conspiracy claims might cause a setback to Khan’s narrative to activate his support base to weaken the new government.

Earlier this month, the powerful Army had also contradicted Khan’s remarks accusing America of hatching a conspiracy to topple his government, saying there was no evidence of interference in the country’s internal matters.

The NSC meeting was attended by Chairman Joint Chief of Staff Committee General Nadeem Raza, Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Muhammad Amjad Khan Niazi, Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmad Babar, intelligence chiefs and other senior civil and military officers.

Federal Ministers Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Rana Sanaullah, Marriyum Aurangzeb, Ahsan Iqbal and Minister of State Hina Rabbani Khar were also present in the meeting.

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