US says no letter sent to Pakistan as PM Imran Khan discloses contents of 'threat letter'

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan recently, while speaking at a rally in the country's capital Islamabad, said that besides internal politics, a "foreign conspiracy" was also plotting his removal from power as he faces a no-confidence vote.

Khan alleged that because of his external policy, such a conspiracy took place. "We have been threatened in writing but we will not compromise on national interests," he said. Although, Khan didn'toffer anydetails or evidence.

However, as per a report by Pakistani media outlet DAWN, Imran Khan briefed his cabinet members about the contents of the letter and the reports added that a group of journalists were provided with minutes of the meeting because of the legal bar on disclosing classified documents.

The journalistswere informed that a Pakistani envoy was told by a senior official of the host country that they had issues with PM Khan's foreign policy, especially his visit to Russia and the stance on the ongoing Ukrainian conflict.Though no foreign government was named in that meeting.

According to the DAWNreport, the Pakistani envoy was conveyed that the future trajectory of relations between the two countries was contingent upon the fate of the no-confidence motion that the opposition parties were then planning to bring against Khan. The envoy was warned of serious implications if Prime Minister Khan survived the no-trust vote, it said.

The cable was reportedly sent on March 7, a day before the Opposition submitted the no-confidence motion and requisitioned a National Assembly session for voting on it.

Apart from that, it has been reported that the cable was sent by Pakistan's then-ambassador to the United States Asad Majeed on the basis of his meeting with Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu.

Ambassador Majeed has now moved to Brussels to take up his new assignment and has been replaced by Ambassador Masood Khan.

Meanwhile, the US State Department on Wednesday (March 30) asserted that no US government agency or official had sent a letter to Pakistan on the current political situation in the country, the report said.

"There is no truth to these allegations," said a State Department spokesperson while responding to questions from DAWNabout the alleged letter and US involvement in the no-confidence motion against the PTI government.

According to some diplomatic sources in Washington, the letter could be a diplomatic cable from Washington, drafted by a senior Pakistani diplomat.

"The contents of the letter, apparently, are based on informal discussions between Pakistani and other officials," the DAWNquoted one diplomatic source as saying.

"The contents, if correct, show a set of friendly officials from various countries indulging in some loud-thinking and probing. Nothing more," the source added.

The sources said such conversations often happened in capital cities around the world and diplomats often shared the contents of such conversations with authorities in their home countries.

"The purpose behind such cables is to keep your government informed. It's no sign of a conspiracy against a government or a personality," another diplomatic source was quoted as saying in the report.

WATCH |Pakistan PM Imran Khan set to unveil 'secret letter' in parliament today

(With inputs from agencies)