The US State Department reiterated that the US had never attempted to topple Imran Khan’s government in Pakistan.
“As we’ve previously said, there has – there is not and there has never been a truth to these allegations, but I don’t have anything additional to offer,” Mr. Patel , the spokesperson of the US State Department told journalists during Weekly press briefing held on November 16, 2022.
He was responding to a question asked by ARY’s Jahanzeb Ali who asked the State Department’s Spokesperson Mr. Patel for his comments following former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan finally backing out of his allegations on the United States. In his recent interview, Khan said he no longer blamed the U.S. administration for removing him from power. What are your thoughts on this?
” So let’s take a little bit of a step back. The U.S. values our longstanding cooperation with Pakistan and has always viewed a prosperous and democratic Pakistan as critical to U.S. interests. That remains unchanged. And we don’t have a position on one political candidate of a party versus another. We support peaceful upholding of democratic, constitutional, and legal principles. And ultimately, we will not let propaganda, misinformation, and disinformation get in the way of any bilateral relationship, including our valued bilateral partner with Pakistan,” Mr. Patel said.
” As we’ve previously said, there has – there is not and there has never been a truth to these allegations, but I don’t have anything additional to offer,” Patel, added.
When same reporter drew Patel’s attention to Imran Khan’s statement that his Moscow visit was embarrassment, the spokesperson said he has nothing to add to it.
“I really don’t have anything else to offer on Foreign Minister – or former Prime Minister Khan’s comments on that,” Patel added swiftly.
In his interview, former Premier Imran Khan had said it was embarrassing to visit Moscow on the day of the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. Earlier, the statement was totally different. He was saying that it was in the national interests of Pakistan; that’s why he visited Moscow. So again, he’s backing out his previous statement.
Khan’s recent statements suggest that he’s trying to reconnect with the United States. When asked if Biden administration has made any contact with Khan or any of his party members, the spokesperson said he has nothing specific to comment on that.
” I don’t have any specific meetings or calls to read out, but to the front part of your question, again, the U.S. values our longstanding cooperation with Pakistan. It has always viewed a prosperous and democratic Pakistan as critical to our interests not just in the region, but also the world more broadly,” Patel replied.
Reply a query about the UN session regarding Russia, where some countries including India Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brazil, Egypt, Indonesia, even Israel, Nepal, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka were absent from the voting, the spokesperson seek more time to answer the question.
” I will let our mission in New York speak more in detail about any potential resolution vote, but what I’ll say is this: is that since the first days of Russia’s unjustified and barbaric and unprovoked war against Ukraine, we have had continuous communications with our Indian counterparts about what we can do together to hold Russia accountable and to impose consequences for its brutal war. The Secretary had the opportunity to host External Affairs Minister Jaishankar here a number of months ago. They also had a bilateral engagement on the margins of the ASEAN summit as well. And although we may sometimes vary on our policy approaches, we – the United States and India – share a commitment to upholding the rule-based international order that respects territorial integrity and sovereignty,” Mr. Patel, the US State Department’s Spokesperson added.