Prime Minister Imran Khan has accused Washington of supporting an attempt by the opposition to oust him and trigger a regime change in Pakistan.
"…The move to oust me is (a) blatant interference in domestic politics by the United States", Khan, who is facing a no-confidence vote on Sunday, told the media.
On 1 April, Imran Khan said his government had handed an official note to the United States' mission in Islamabad in protest over what it denounced as Washington's interference in Pakistan’s affairs.
"We now have given a demarche to (the) American Embassy", Khan said in an interview for local television channel ARY.
"We now have given a demarche to (the) American Embassy", Khan said in an interview for local television channel ARY.
Pakistan’s prime minister insisted that the US "threatened" him, adding that foreign powers sought his removal, and a “powerful country” was angry with his two-day visit to Moscow in February to meet with President Vladimir Putin.
Khan was in Moscow the same day as Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a special military operation aimed at the demilitarisation and de-Nazification of Ukraine.
The Pakistani PM earlier blasted opposition parties for bringing up the no-confidence motion against him, describing them as mere “pawns” of a “foreign government”.
Earlier, the White House dismissed veiled accusations of seeking to remove Khan from power, with WH Director of Communications Kate Bedingfield stating in a press briefing on Thursday there was "absolutely no truth" to the allegations.
A shopkeeper tunes a television screen to watch the speech of Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, at his shop in Islamabad, Pakistan, March 31, 2022.
© REUTERS / AKHTAR SOOMRO
The no confidence motion to remove Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan was presented in parliament on 28 March by speaker of the lower house Qasim Suri after an alliance of opposition parties filed it earlier in the month. They claimed Khan had lost his parliamentary majority in the wake of defection by several lawmakers from his Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) party.
Khan witnessed his numerical majority in the parliament dwindle further after his main ally quit the government on 30 March.
Nasreen Jalil, leader of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), Khan's largest parliamentary ally, told a press conference that the party was joining an opposition bloc. After the move, the opposition appeared to have assembled the requisite number of votes required in parliament to vote Khan and his government out.
In a televised address to the nation on 31 March, Imran Khan insisted he would not resign before Sunday’s vote.