Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, April 1: Facing ouster from the office with his government reduced to a minority in the National Assembly, the Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan sought to divert the country’s attention by indicting the United States showing clear signs of Pakistan further drifting towards Russia-China camp.
Ahead of the voting on the no-confidence motion in his government on Sunday which is destined to be passed considering the current respective strength of the ruling coalition and the opposition parties in the National Assembly, Khan without naming any country said on Friday that a “powerful country which is supporting India,” was angry with Pakistan because of his recent visit to Russia to meet President Vladimir Putin.
Repeatedly highlighting that Pakistan, like most other countries including India should had been following an independent foreign policy not to be dictated by any super power and said the reason why Pakistan could not touch its peak potential was its dependency syndrome on other powerful nations.
Addressing the Islamabad Security Dialogue, Khan emphasised that an independent foreign policy was crucial for the country. “A county without an independent foreign policy remains unable to secure the interests of its people,” he said.
Blaming his predecessors for the present state of sorry affairs, Khan said taking independent decisions while keeping high the interests of a nation was extremely important rather than submitting to the will of other countries in exchange for foreign aid.
Without referring to the US, Khan said a “powerful country” had expressed displeasure over his recent visit to Russia. “On the other hand, it is supporting its ally India which imports oil from Russia,” he rued. Khan’s comments came a day after Pakistan summoned the Acting US envoy in Islamabad to the Foreign Ministry over a “threatening” letter and an alleged “foreign-funded plot” against the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government led by Khan.
The US diplomat was summoned hours after the country’s top decision-making body on national security voiced concern over the issue during a meeting chaired by Khan on Thursday.
Khan met President Putin in the Kremlin on February 24, the day the Russian President ordered a “special military operation” against Ukraine. Pakistan’s ties with Russia have moved past the bitter Cold War hostilities in recent years and the chill in the relations between Pakistan and the US has further pushed the country towards Russia and China.
US President Joe Biden is yet to make a customary call to Prime Minister Khan since he assumed office in January 2021.
In his speech, Khan said his government has pursued an independent foreign policy. “How come a country can interfere in the affairs of an independent State,” he said. “But not to blame them, as it is our fault because we gave them this impression.” He said for its own interest, Pakistan’s elite threw the nation to the altar and put its self-respect at stake.
Last month, Pakistan abstained from voting in United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) resolution calling on Russia to stop the war against Ukraine, and urged that the conflict be resolved through dialogue and diplomacy.
Khan has been claiming that the Opposition’s no-confidence motion against him was the result of a “foreign conspiracy” because of his independent foreign policy and funds were being channelled from abroad to oust him from power.
The 69-year-old embattled prime minister on Wednesday effectively lost majority in Parliament after Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), a key partner of the ruling coalition, joined the ranks of the Opposition, which had tabled the no-confidence motion against his government in the National Assembly the voting on which is scheduled to take place on Sunday.
Taking a jibe at the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shahbaz Sharif, Khan said: “Those who are preparing to get to the Prime Minister’s Office are giving interviews that my statements will piss off America and Pakistan cannot survive without its support.” The prime minister said the decisions of previous politicians have led to a situation where no foreign country respects Pakistan.
“They order us. They say that if the no-confidence motion does not become successful, there will be consequences for Pakistan,” he said.
Khan’s estranged former wife Reham Khan, however, slammed him and his government and said the people of the country should focus on standing together for cleaning the mess that Imran Khan has created. Imran Khan came to power in 2018 with promises to create a “Naya Pakistan” but miserably failed to address the basic problem of keeping the prices of commodities in control, allowing the Opposition to target his government as “inefficient.”
Imran Khan’s ex-wife tweeted: “Imran is history!! I think we should focus on standing together for cleaning the mess Naya Pakistan has left.” She said what Imran Khan did not have were “intelligence and capability” as the Pakistan Prime Minister in his address to the nation said by God’s grace he does not need anything as he has attained everything in life – fame, wealth, etc.
Reham Khan, however, agreed with Imran Khan’s point as he said he saw Pakistan rising to the top when he was a child. “Yes, Pakistan was great when you were not the PM,” Reham Khan tweeted sharply criticising the speech.
Khan had on Thursday refused to resign saying that he will play till the last ball. In his address to the nation on Thursday, Imran Khan said he won’t resign while saying that the rebelling legislators from his party have sold their conscience. “Somebody asked me to resign. I will resign? I have played cricket for 20 years, and I play till the last ball. I have never given up in my life,” Imran Khan said, adding, “You will see that I will emerge stronger after the vote (on no-confidence), no matter what the result of the vote is.”
It was not the first time but the ex-wife of the Pakistan Prime Minister has criticised him several times in the past for his style of governance.