PTI Chairman Imran Khan on Monday claimed that US defence analyst Dr Rebecca Grant’s remarks in a Fox News show removed “all doubts” regarding his allegation that he was ousted from the prime minister’s office last month through a US-sponsored “foreign conspiracy” due to his pursuance of an independent foreign policy for Pakistan.
Imran’s remarks came after Dr Grant was asked in a Fox News programme what the US message to Pakistan should be. To this, she said: “Pakistan needs to support Ukraine, stop looking for deals with Russia right now, limit their involvement with China, and stop the anti-American policies that are part of the reason that Imran Khan, the prime minister, got voted out of office a couple of weeks ago.
“So, it’s time to cool it on the anti-American, pro-Russia policies in Pakistan. Now is not the time.”
Dr Grant is a contributor for Fox News and provides analysis on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as well as national and military-related topics. She is also the president of an independent research firm named IRIS that specialises in defence and aerospace. According to IRIS website, she has previously worked for US government’s think tank RAND Corporation and on the staff of the secretary of the US Air Force and its chief of staff.
Soon after the video made rounds on social media, Imran, in a series of tweets, claimed vindication for his stance, saying it should “remove all doubts” about why a democratically elected prime minister and his government were ousted.
He asked US President Joe Biden’s administration whether it believed it had increased or decreased “anti-American” sentiment in Pakistan by indulging in what he termed as a “regime-change conspiracy”.
“My question for the Biden Administration: By indulging in a regime-change conspiracy to remove a democratically elected PM of a country of over 220 [million] people to bring in a puppet PM, do you think you have lessened or increased anti-American sentiment in Pakistan?” he questioned.
“Clearly the US wants an obedient puppet as PM who will not allow Pak choice of neutrality in a European war; a PM who will be obedient to US demands; who will not sign agreements with Russia & who will downgrade our strategic [relationship] with China,” Imran, who was ousted from government after losing a no-confidence vote on April 9, said.
If a Pakistani prime minister asserted the country’s sovereignty and formulated an independent foreign policy, he would be removed and a “subservient, crooked PM like [Shehbaz] Sharif will be brought in”, the former premier claimed.
Terming the video clip a reaffirmation of “US regime-change conspiracy”, Imran said it was the chief justice of Pakistan’s duty to form a commission to hold public hearings to determine who was involved in it.
Separately, in a video message, Imran said he had presented the “cable” to the nation and sent it to the chief justice, the National Assembly speaker and the president. He had made the nation aware that the government was removed through a “very big foreign conspiracy”, he added.
