Russia slams US for meddling in Pakistan’s internal affairs, says Imran Khan paying price for visiting Moscow

Russia criticised the US for making “another attempt of shameless interference” into the internal affairs of Pakistan.  

Russia launched an all-out attack on the United States over the political crisis in Pakistan, saying that Prime Minister Imran Khan was paying the price for his disobedience to Washington and was being punished for visiting Moscow earlier this year.

Russia criticised the US for making “another attempt of shameless interference” into the internal affairs of Pakistan. Khan met Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin on February 24, the day the Russian leader had ordered a “special military operation” against Ukraine.

“Immediately after the announcement of the working visit of Imran Khan to Moscow on February 23-24 this year, the Americans and their Western associates began to exert rude pressure on the Prime Minister, demanding an ultimatum to cancel the trip,” news agency PTI quoted Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova. “This is another attempt of shameless interference by the US in the internal affairs of an independent state for its own selfish purposes. The above facts eloquently testify to this,” Zakharova said, while accusing Washington of interfering in the internal affairs of Pakistan.

Khan became the second Pakistani Prime Minister to visit Russia in the last 23 years, the last being Nawaz Sharif in April 1999.  Imran Khan had alleged that the foreign power was upset over his visit to Russia, but it was backing ally India which is importing oil from Russia.

The US-led West has imposed a series of crippling sanctions on Russia since it invaded Ukraine and has been pressing other nations to reduce their dependence on Russian oil and other products.

The 69-year-old Pakistani Prime Minister has alleged a foreign conspiracy was behind the attempts to topple his government, the same reason cited for the dismissal of no-confidence motion by the national assembly deputy speaker Qasim Suri on Sunday.

At a meeting in Islamabad, the PTI chief had named US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu as the one involved in the alleged foreign conspiracy. According to Khan, Lu had warned Pakistan ambassador to US Asad Majeed that there would be implications if the prime minister survived the trust vote.

Pakistan president Arif Alvi on Sunday dissolved the assembly on the recommendations of Imran Khan. The move came after the no-confidence motion against the ruling PTI alliance was rejected.

Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Tuesday adjourned the hearing on the deputy speaker’s decision to reject the no-confidence motion against the premier, who had lost majority in the lower house of Parliament.