According to diplomatic cables cited in an investigation by Drop Sight News, in early 2022, as tensions between the US and Pakistan were rising, US officials assured that past grievances would be forgotten if Prime Minister Imran Khan was removed.
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A Pakistani diplomatic cable, obtained by investigative news agency Drop Site News , has revealed that there was American pressure in the April 2022 removal of Prime Minister Imran Khan. According to the cable, Washington was assured that if Khan was removed from office, Washington would forget its dissatisfaction with Pakistan. The
report focuses on a meeting on March 7, 2022, between the then Pakistani ambassador to the United States, Asad Majid Khan, and the US assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asian affairs, Donald Lu. During the meeting, Lu suggested removing the Pakistani prime minister through a no-confidence motion. According to the diplomatic cable cited by
Drop Site News, Lu told Ambassador Asad that “Washington could put an end to its dissatisfaction with the Khan government if Khan was removed from office through a no-confidence motion.” The phrase “all is forgiven” later quoted by the Pakistani ambassador was also used in the same context.
The US State Department has denied allegations that Washington was trying to influence Khan’s removal. However, the Drop Site report noted that the diplomatic conversation reflected long-standing tensions between the two countries.
Imran Khan visited Moscow in February 2022. Where he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin. At the same time, the Russian military began its invasion of Ukraine. A few days before the meeting, US President Joe Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, called his Pakistani counterpart, Moeed Yousuf, to persuade Khan to cancel the visit. According to the details of the phone conversation released by Drop Site, Sullivan warned him not to visit and pressured Islamabad to clearly stand on the US side in the Ukraine war. However, Khan ignored the warning.
Shortly after, Pakistan decided to abstain from voting on a resolution at the United Nations General Assembly condemning the Russian attack. At that time, Pakistan stood with some countries, including China and India. According to the drop site, American diplomats, angered by the visit to Moscow and the lack of a clear stand on Washington's side, had personally warned their Pakistani counterparts that relations between the two countries could not continue as before.
Against this backdrop, the report presents the meeting between American and Pakistani officials on March 7, 2022, as a turning point. The report cites the 'cable' as evidence that Washington expressed a 'political desire' to change Islamabad's leadership, but does not claim that the US directly directed the subsequent parliamentary process.
Imran Khan was removed from office after a no-confidence motion registered with the support of opposition parties was passed on April 9, 2022. His departure came against the backdrop of months of political confrontation with opposition parties and rising tensions with Pakistan's powerful military establishment. The government that followed was backed by the military. The
report analyzed the incident against the backdrop of long-standing tensions in US-Pakistan relations. The report noted that the two countries have long-standing differences on issues including Afghanistan, counterterrorism cooperation, and Pakistan's foreign policy views. These tensions escalated after the US withdrew troops from Afghanistan in 2021 and the Taliban seized power, the report said.
In June 2021, then-CIA Director William J. Burns visited Islamabad to meet Imran Khan. But the meeting did not take place. According to the report, the Khan government had rejected a US request to provide a military base for the counterterrorism campaign at the time. This further widened the gap between the two countries. According to the
report, Burns had reached Islamabad to discuss the provision of military bases for drone strikes even after the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan. However, he did not meet Prime Minister Khan, and Pakistan refused to provide a military base. The report states that the incident has further strained relations between the two countries.
According to the Drop Site report, before Imran Khan was removed, Pakistan's military leadership was increasing its own contacts with US officials. In July 2021, the military assigned the former CIA station chief in Islamabad to 'lobby' Washington without even informing Prime Minister Khan. The report describes this as an early sign of Pakistan's generals 'bypassing' the elected government and expanding their contacts with the US.
After the new government was formed, Islamabad began providing Washington with the assistance that the Khan-led government refused to provide, the report states. Within months, Pakistan emerged as a major supplier of arms to Ukraine, the report said.
The leaked cable also said the weapons were sent to Ukraine through US defense contractors and third-country intermediaries. The report analyzed that this helped Ukraine, which was facing a shortage of weapons in the first year of the war, to fill that shortage.
