ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s planning minister Asad Umar on Wednesday shared the gist of a letter which Prime Minister Imran Khan recently described as evidence of a “foreign-funded conspiracy” to topple his administration with a group of senior journalists.
Faced with a no-confidence motion against him in Pakistan’s national assembly, the prime minister addressed a public rally of his party workers and supporters on Sunday in which he said that some international powers were not happy with his government and wanted to bring it down since he was pursuing an independent foreign policy.
Khan maintained he had also been threatened “in writing” while mentioning the letter which he said could be used to substantiate his claim.
The document has remained under discussion since then, though the government has only disclosed some of its contents now during the media interaction in the prime minister’s presence.
Asked about its essence, Arshad Sharif, a journalist who attended the meeting, told ARY news channel it underscored international displeasure with Pakistan’s ruling administration while mentioning the no-trust motion against Khan.
“If the vote of no-confidence succeeds, Pakistan’s international problems will reduce,” he said while summarizing the contents of the letter. “However, if Prime Minister Imran Khan survives the vote of no-confidence, Pakistan will face arm-twisting. There are very clear threats in relation to this.”
He said the document was briefly displayed to journalists from a distance and it was not read out due to Official Secrets Act.
“[The prime minister] said these things had been shared with the army chief and DG ISI [director general of Inter-Services Intelligence],” Sharif continued. “He also maintained there would be an in-camera parliamentary session in which foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi would convey these things [to lawmakers].”
“The federal government, prime minister and his cabinet ministers are explicitly calling it a threat and an attempt to influence Pakistan’s foreign policy,” he added.
They were also looking at it as an international conspiracy to oust the prime minister, he said, for which there was now an “official document in existence to prove their concerns.”
According to Kashif Abbasi, another journalist who was present at the meeting, the letter also highlighted concerns related to the prime minister’s recent visit to Russia where he held a long meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin shortly after Russia invaded neighboring Ukraine.
He said Khan’s trip to Moscow was described as his personal decision, not Pakistan’s state policy.
“The vote of no-confidence is arriving,” Abbasi said whil recalling the gist of the letter. “If it succeeds, we will forgive everything. If it fails, the coming days will become tough [for Pakistan].”
Earlier in the day, a Pakistani court expressed “confidence” that Prime Minister Imran Khan would not publicize secret documents while hearing a petition filed by a citizen in the context of the same letter.
“The worthy Prime Minister is an elected leader of the treasury benches,” the Islamabad High Court said in a written order. “The Court is confident that as an elected Prime Minister he would not disclose any information or act in breach of section 5 of the Official Secrets Act, 1923 nor the oath taken by him under the Constitution. Any decision taken by the worthy Prime Minister has to be in consonance with his obligations under the Official Secrets Act, 1923 and in letter and spirit of the oath of the office.”
It added the court had full trust the prime minister would not reveal any information which “may be prejudicial to the national interest and national integrity of Pakistan.”
The court said “the petition stands disposed-of in the above terms because passing a restraining order would unjustifiably reflect lack of confidence in an elected Prime Minister.”