ISLAMABAD On Sunday, the Pakistani government accused the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, led by former prime minister Imran Khan, of employing American lobbying companies to advance congressional resolutions aimed at stopping Pakistan’s military assistance.
Aqeel Malik, a spokesperson for the Pakistani government, stated that following Khan’s removal in a parliamentary no-trust vote in 2022, the PTI launched a “concentrated smear campaign” against Pakistan abroad.
The US military should not be sent to Pakistan until that nation has secured free and fair elections, an independent judiciary, and a reassertion of the separation of powers, according to the resolutions put out last year.
During a news conference, Malik stated that the US House of Representatives had rejected the resolutions that Khan’s party had sponsored in an effort to further a “anti-Pakistan agenda and narrative.”
“They [PTI] said in the amendments that they [should] stop providing security and other assistance to Pakistan and asked the secretary of state to submit a report that included information on human rights violations, other assessments, and any irregularities in Pakistan,” he claimed.
“This effort was neutralized, put on hold, and defeated by our Foreign Office. The House Rules committee rejected these three amendments on the grounds that they were not supported by the evidence.
After Khan was removed from the prime minister’s office, he accused the PTI of creating an anti-US narrative in Pakistan and then employing lobbying companies to further the “anti-Pakistan agenda and narrative” in the US.
Congressman Ro Khanna’s demand that the US impose sanctions on Pakistan’s army chief, Asim Munir, and other military officers for global persecution, according to a post on X by the PTI, was a “crucial turning point.”
“Pakistan’s systematic corruption and flagrant violations of human rights are too serious for the international community to ignore. It stated, “The recent stolen election, in which Imran Khan remains unjustly imprisoned, is evidence of the military’s grip over the nation.
Following Khan’s historic campaign of defiance against Pakistan’s formidable military, the PTI has asked US politicians for assistance in the past few months in looking into claims of human rights violations and a crackdown on its supporters.
According to Malik, in May 2023, 65 lawmakers sent a letter to the US Secretary of Defense urging him to give priority to promoting the defense of democracy and human rights in Pakistan.
Thirty-one congressman wrote to the US president and secretary of state to refuse to recognize the government of Pakistan constituted following the election in February 2024, while eleven congressmen wrote to the secretary of state in November of last year to cease US support to Pakistan.
Prior to the elections on February 8, Khan’s PTI was badly crippled: rallies were outlawed, the party insignia was removed, and several candidates were disqualified from running. Khan, who is incarcerated since last August and is perhaps the most well-liked politician in Pakistan, claims that all of the accusations made against him are intended to keep him out of politics.
