Leaked diplomatic cables show clear signal was sent to Pak
New Delhi: At a time when the Pakistan government under Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir is trying to position itself as a regional leader and a mediator in global conflicts, a document has come to light that indicates the present regime is a stooge of the United States government and was positioned by deceitfully ousting former Pakistan PM Imran Khan in a well-planned coup. The US government that was headed by President Joe Biden in 2022 was upset with Imran Khan for visiting Russia as the Russia-Ukraine conflict broke and staying neutral instead of backing Ukraine. A leaked Pakistan foreign office cable shows that Imran Khan was ousted to favour the US government.
As per the leaked cypher, Pakistan’s ambassador to the US Asad Majeed Khan met Donald Lu, then US assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asian affairs, on March 7, 2022 over lunch. Elaborating his meeting with Mr Lu, Mr Majeed Khan sent a diplomatic cypher, cable I-0678, to Islamabad, informing his government that the US was upset with Imran Khan over several things, the latest being his visit to Russia. Mr Lu then put pressure on Pakistan and reportedly told the ambassador that Washington’s grievances with Imran Khan’s government could be set aside if he was removed through a no-confidence vote and “all will be forgiven” if the no-confidence succeeds. The cable was marked “Secret, No Circulation”, and distributed to Pakistan’s Secretary to the PM, foreign secretary, Chief of Army Staff, director-general of ISI, and the director of the SSP Section.
“I think if the no-confidence vote against the Prime Minister succeeds, all will be forgiven in Washington because the Russia visit is being looked at as a decision by the Prime Minister. Otherwise, I think it will be tough going ahead,” Mr Lu said, as per the original cable leaked by US-based media portal Drop Site.
In his own assessment, the ambassador wrote that Mr Lu “could not have conveyed such a strong demarche without the express approval of the White House”.
The US was also upset with Pakistan for abstaining at the UN in a resolution against Russia, and, not providing secure military station to the US to position its weapons and drones while it was retreating from Afghanistan. In fact, Imran Khan had refused to meet CIA director William J. Burns in June 2021 to talk about providing a safe space to the US.
Imran Khan was removed as PM through a no-confidence motion on April 10, 2022. He and his wife were jailed in 2023, his party was banned from contesting elections. Imran Khan is in solitary confinement since 2025, amid concerns over his deteriorating health.
Journalists of Drop Site News, which leaked the original Pakistani cypher, pointed towards the Pakistan military’s role behind Imran Khan’s removal and setting up the Shehbaz Sharif government. In fact, it was this classified Pakistani diplomatic cable that Imran Khan had referred to as evidence of a US-backed conspiracy to remove him from power in 2022.
The Drop Site claimed the copy of the cypher released by it did not originate from the Pakistan PM’s office but came from within the Pakistani military, from an individual disillusioned with the direction of the country’s leadership. “The cable was distributed to multiple recipients, all of whom retained their copies through the end of 2024. Drop Site said it obtained its copy from one of those military recipients”, who said it felt the Pakistan military was pushing the country toward a crisis that was similar to the one in 1971 which led to the secession of Bangladesh.
The Pakistan envoy also said there was also a feeling that while the US expected Pakistan’s support on all issues important to the US, it did not reciprocate, and “we do not see much US support on issues of concern for Pakistan, particularly on Kashmir”. When Pakistan ambassador pointed to Mr Lu that the US was applying different criteria for India, which too had abstained in the UN vote on Ukraine, Mr Lu was evasive and responded that Washington looked at the US-India relationship through the lens of what was happening in China. Mr Lu added that while India had a close relationship with Moscow, the US believed that a change in India’s policy may be visible once all Indian students were out of Ukraine.
