Pakistan's military on Thursday, 14 April, dismissed the allegations levelled by ousted Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan that the United States had conspired to topple him in the Parliamentary vote of confidence.
The country's military spokesman, Major General Babar Iftikhar, told at a press conference, "You can see clearly whether there's any word of conspiracy in that statement. I don't think so," according to international news agency Reuters.
He made the remarks in a reference to the National Security Committee (NSC) statement that had expressed concern over non-diplomatic language used in a cable from a "foreign country" about the no-confidence vote. The country was assumed to be the United States.
Moreover, Iftikhar also denied Khan's assertion that General Qamar Javed Bajwa who is the chief of Army staff, had offered to help mediate in his deadlock with the opposition.
He said instead the ex-PM had asked Bajwa to convey to the opposition that he would call snap elections, if the no-confidence was withdrawn.
Further, Iftikhar also said that the US had never asked for military bases in Pakistan, after the country withdrew from Afghanistan last year.
Imran Khan was dismissed from office after 174 members recorded their votes in favour of the no-confidence resolution held in the Pakistan National Assembly on 10 April. Khan, who was elected as the Prime Minister in 2018, faced a no-confidence vote largely on accusations of economic mismanagement.
A former cricketer-turned-politician, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman became Pakistan's first PM to be thrown out of power by a vote of no-confidence.
Following his ouster, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president and opposition leader Shehbaz Sharif was sworn-in as Pakistan's 23rd Prime Minister on 11 April.
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