Washington/Islamabad, March 31 (UNI) The United States has said “no government agency or official” in Washington sent a threatening letter to the Pakistan Prime Minister, even as Islamabad has decided to issue a strong demarche to the “Country in question”. In response to Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan alleging in recent days that there was a “foreign conspiracy” in efforts to oust him through a no-confidence vote, and openly hinting at US involvement, the US State Department rejected the allegations. “There is no truth to these allegations,” a State Department spokesperson said. The clarification from the US came in response to queries posed by the Washington correspondent of Dawn who approached the State Department with a request to comment on the matter after Imran Khan shared the contents of the letter with a select group of reporters. Later in the day, senior Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) leader Faisal Vawda revealed a “plot is being hatched to assassinate Imran Khan”.
“Allegations of US involvement in the no-trust motion and threat letter to PM Imran Khan are baseless,” said the US spokesperson. The US government is monitoring the political situation of Pakistan, however, and supports the rule of law in Pakistan, he added. Regarding the question of the no-trust motion, the spokesperson said Washington respects the constitutional process in Pakistan. Meanwhile, in Islamabad, the National Security Committee (NSC) issued a statement on Thursday expressing concern over the language used by a senior diplomat of a foreign nation. The NSC meeting was called to discuss a letter which the PTI government says it has received from a foreign power and contains a threat against Pakistan. The NSC statement said that interference in the internal affairs of the country was unacceptable and that the Parliament would be taken into confidence on the issue in an in-camera briefing. “The committee decided that Pakistan will issue a strong demarche to the country in question both in Islamabad and in the country’s capital through proper channel in keeping with diplomatic norms,” the NSC statement issued by the PM Office said.
The NSC is the highest forum for coordination between the civil and the military leadership on security issues. The prime minister heads the committee which includes all three services chiefs, federal ministers, national security adviser, and intelligence officials. The statement also confirmed that the letter was written by a Pakistani ambassador and not directly by the foreign government. “The National Security Adviser briefed the committee on the formal communication of a senior official of a foreign country to Pakistan’s ambassador in the said country in a formal meeting which was duly conveyed by the ambassador to the ministry of foreign affairs,” it said. “The committee expressed grave concern at the communication, terming the language used by the foreign official as undiplomatic. The committee concluded that the communication amounted to blatant interference in the internal affairs of Pakistan by the country in question, which was unacceptable under any circumstance,” the statement added. Reports in Pakistan press claim that the senior official of the foreign country in question is US Assistant Secretary of State Donald Lu who had met Pakistan’s then Ambassador to the United said Asad Majeed Khan. Earlier, federal ministers Fawad Chaudhry and Hammad Azhar had said that the NSC has made three key decisions at its meeting. They also said that some Pakistani politicians, whom they termed traitors, were supporting the regime change.