ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s foreign office on Monday asked all stakeholders to move on after the country’s top security body ruled out any foreign conspiracy and rest aside the controversy generated by a cypher telegram from a former Pakistani ambassador to the United States (US), saying it was “undermining and complicating” Islamabad’s external relations with partner countries.
Waving a purported letter in a public gathering in Islamabad on March 27, former prime minister Imran Khan claimed for the first time a foreign “conspiracy” was behind the vote of no confidence (VoNC) moved against him by the then opposition. The conspiracy was orchestrated by the US to remove him from power for pursuing an independent foreign policy for Pakistan and visiting Russia despite Washington’s concerns, he said.
Khan convened the National Security Committee (NSC) meeting on March 31 to discuss the content of the telegram sent by the then Pakistan ambassador in Washington, Asad Majeed Khan, after his meeting with US Under Secretary Donald Lu. While the committee did not endorse Khan’s claim of a “conspiracy,” it termed the language used by the US official as “undiplomatic” and amounting to “blatant interference” in the internal affairs of Pakistan.
Khan was removed from the office after a successful VoNC and Shehbaz Sharif became the new prime minister of Pakistan. PM Sharif again called the NSC meeting on April 22 to discuss the telegram issue, which concluded that no evidence of a foreign conspiracy was found in Khan’s removal.
“We feel that the categorical statement from the NSC, which was based on briefings and assessments from all stakeholders where a conspiracy has been ruled out and it should put to rest this matter,” Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, the foreign office spokesperson, told reporters at a media briefing on Monday.
“Such episodes do carry the potential of undermining our diplomacy and complicating our external relations because the elements of trust and confidentiality are central to conducting diplomacy in any country.”
It was time to move on so that Pakistani diplomats could get back to improving the country’s relations in the best interest of Pakistan, the spokesperson said.
“The United States is a key partner of Pakistan and both sides are keen to build on this long-standing relationship between the two countries and to further strengthen and diversify it,” he added.
Ahmad said it was quite clear that the matter had been adequately and sufficiently discussed and addressed in the NSC meetings of the NSC and the committee has ruled out any conspiracy behind the regime change in Pakistan in its categorical statement.
On the démarche sent to the US, he said the foreign office took the action on the directions of the country’s leadership. “Démarches were issued in Islamabad and Washington on the direction of the NSC meeting held on March 31,” he added.
To a question about the accusation that the communication from the ambassador was initially withheld from the then foreign minister, the foreign office spokesperson said such assertions were unfounded and there was no possibility of holding back something like an official telegram.
“It was a cypher telegram which is an accountable and classified document whose handling and access is strictly as per the relevant instructions and procedures,” he said. “The cypher telegram was duly received at the foreign office and immediately distributed to the relevant authorities.”
He dispelled the rumors that any inquiry or action had been taken against Ambassador Asad Majeed Khan, who sent the cable.
“The ambassador has completed his term in Washington and already been assigned another duty in Brussels (Pakistan’s ambassador to European Union, Belgium and Luxembourg) and he will proceed to his new assignment as announced,” Ahmad clarified.
Pakistan’s foreign office says telegram issue ‘undermining’ external ties, urges to move on
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Pakistan’s foreign office says telegram issue ‘undermining’ external ties, urges to move on
- Based on a cypher telegram, ex-PM Khan claimed the US orchestrated his removal through a no-trust vote
- Foreign office says the National Security Committee ruled out any conspiracy, rests aside the controversy
Pakistani politicians urge dialogue with Imran Khan’s party as PM offers talks
- National Dialogue Committee group organizes summit attended by prominent lawyers, politicians and journalists in Islamabad
- Participants urge government to lift alleged ban on political activities and media restrictions, form committee for negotiations
ISLAMABAD: Participants of a meeting featuring prominent politicians, lawyers and civil society members on Wednesday urged the government to initiate talks with former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, lift alleged bans on political activities after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif recently invited the PTI for talks.
The summit was organized by the National Dialogue Committee (NDC), a political group formed last month by former PTI members Chaudhry Fawad Husain, ex-Sindh governor Imran Ismail and Mehmood Moulvi. The NDC has called for efforts to ease political tensions in the country and facilitate dialogue between the government and Khan’s party.
The development takes place amid rising tensions between the PTI and Pakistan’s military and government. Khan, who remains in jail on a slew of charges he says are politically motivated, blames the military and the government for colluding to keep him away from power by rigging the 2024 general election and implicating him in false cases. Both deny his allegations.
Since Khan was ousted in a parliamentary vote in April 2022, the PTI has complained of a widespread state crackdown, while Khan and his senior party colleagues have been embroiled in dozens of legal cases. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif last month invited the PTI for talks during a meeting of the federal cabinet, saying harmony among political forces was essential for the country’s progress.
“The prime objective of the dialogue is that we want to bring the political temperatures down,” Ismail told Arab News after the conference concluded.
“At the moment, the heat is so much that people— especially in politics— they do not want to sit across the table and discuss the pertaining issues of Pakistan which is blocking the way for investment.”
Former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, who heads the Awaam Pakistan political party, attended the summit along with Jamaat-e-Islami senior leader Liaquat Baloch, Muttahida Quami Movement-Pakistan’s Waseem Akhtar and Haroon Ur Rashid, president of the Supreme Court Bar Association. Journalists Asma Shirazi and Fahd Husain also attended the meeting.
Members of the Pakistan Peoples Party, the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the PTI did not attend the gathering.
The NDC urged Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, President Asif Ali Zardari and PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif to initiate talks with the opposition. It said after the government forms its team, the NDC will announce the names of the opposition negotiating team after holding consultations with its jailed members.
“Let us create some environment. Let us bring some temperatures down and then we will do it,” Ismail said regarding a potential meeting with the jailed Khan.
Muhammad Ali Saif, a former adviser to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister, told participants of the meeting that Pakistan was currently in a “dysfunctional state” due to extreme political polarization.
“The tension between the PTI and the institutions, particularly the army, at the moment is the most fundamental, the most prominent and the most crucial issue,” Saif noted.
‘CHANGED FACES’
The summit proposed six specific confidence-building measures. These included lifting an alleged ban on political activities and the appointment of the leaders of opposition in Pakistan’s Senate and National Assembly.
The joint communique called for the immediate release of women political prisoners, such as Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi and PTI leader Yasmin Rashid, and the withdrawal of cases against supporters of political parties.
The communiqué also called for an end to media censorship and proposed that the government and opposition should “neither use the Pakistan Armed Forces for their politics nor engage in negative propaganda against them.”
Amir Khan, an overseas Pakistani businessperson, complained that frequent political changes in the country had undermined investors’ confidence.
“I came here with investment ideas, I came to know that faces have changed after a year,” Amir Khan said, referring to the frequent change in government personnel.
Khan’s party, on the other hand, has been calling for a “meaningful” political dialogue with the government.
However, it has accused the government of denying PTI members meetings with Khan in the Rawalpindi prison where he remains incarcerated.
“For dialogue to be meaningful, it is essential that these authorized representatives are allowed regular and unhindered access to Imran Khan so that any engagement accurately reflects his views and PTI’s collective position,” PTI leader Azhar Leghari told Arab News last week.
