A top US State Department official said that the foreign conspiracy allegations by former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan were “very disturbing” and asserted that there is no truth in them.
The remarks were made by Director Pakistan Desk Neil W. Hop while addressing a convention of Pakistani physicians in Atlantic City, New Jersey, reported Pakistani local media outlet, Dawn.
Meanwhile, during the convention, a former Pakistani ambassador to the US, Jalil Abbas Jilani acknowledged that relations were passing through a difficult phase and suggested “the revival of structured high-level dialogue” to keep the partnership on track.
Responding to a question about former supremo Khan’s claim of alleged US conspiracy to oust him from power, Hop said, “It’s very disturbing. There’s absolutely no truth in those allegations. We support a strong, democratic set-up in Pakistan. We have no interest in its domestic politics.”
Jilali termed the whole playout of Khan’s conspiracy theory as a “tragic” episode. He added that he has had personal relations with the US official, Donald Lu, implicated in this alleged conspiracy. “He has positive feelings for Pakistan and has rejected involvement in any conspiracy,” he said.
Hop too called Lu a thorough “professional who cannot make such statements.” Jilani suggested tackling this and other similar issues “in a discreet and dispassionate fashion,” as per the media portal.
Earlier, Imran’s rival PML-N Vice-President Maryam Nawaz said that Khan staged “the biggest drama in the history of Pakistan” under the name of a foreign conspiracy.
“Unfortunately, Pakistani politics met with a person who is the biggest liar, chaos-maker and imposter. He used to say to people that we are US slaves. He kept people busy with his conspiracy claims. This is the biggest drama in Pakistan’s history,” she said.
She said that Imran Khan and his gang, which included Imran Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi, plundered the resources of Punjab province.
PTI has won the by-elections on Punjab Assembly seats which were held on Sunday.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has “conceded defeat and congratulated” its rival part on victory in “crucial by-elections in Punjab Assembly’s 20 seats.”