US State Department spokesman Ned Price has said the United States agreed with the statement given by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General (DG) a day ago wherein he dismissed an impression of a foreign "conspiracy" to oust former prime minister Imran Khan's government.
The senior US official made this statement during a press briefing in response to a question from a journalist.
"Pakistan’s military spokesperson said they had no evidence to suggest that the United States had threatened or was involved in the conspiracy to seek the ouster of Imran Khan’s government. What are your comments on it?" the journalist had asked.
"We would agree with it," Price said.Military spokesman Maj Gen Babar Iftikhar had on Thursday tried to clear the air about the alleged foreign conspiracy behind Imran's ouster and specifically mentioned that the National Security Committee (NSC) – which includes the army and ISI chiefs – did not use the word “conspiracy” in its statement on the "cablegate" unlike some political pronouncement by the PTI leaders.
Gen Iftikhar said the military’s stance on the cable was formulated after a thorough investigation by an intelligence agency.
The NSC, however, had noted that the message conveyed by a State Department official was tantamount to “blatant interference in the internal affairs of Pakistan”.
At a press briefing on Thursday, Price dismissed the accusations leveled by Imran, saying "there is no truth whatsoever to the allegations that have been put forward."
"We support the peaceful upholding of constitutional and democratic principles, including respect for human rights. We do not support, whether it’s in Pakistan or anywhere else around the world, one political party over another," he told the briefing.
The State Department official said the US supported broader principles, including the rule of law and equal justice under the law.
He also underlined that the United States looked forward to working with newly elected Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his government "to promote peace and prosperity in Pakistan and the broader region".
Price said the relationship between the United States and Pakistan had been a vital one for the last 75 years. "You probably saw a statement that we released from the Secretary last night regarding the selection of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif," he added.
A day ago, US Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken had also congratulated Shehbaz Sharif and vowed to continue its long-standing cooperation with Pakistan's government.
Likewise, earlier this week, Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby had insisted that the US had a "healthy military-to-military relationship with Pakistani armed forces", hoping that "we have every expectation that will be able to continue to be the case".
Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby has said the United States had a "healthy military-to-military relationship with Pakistani armed forces", adding that "we have every expectation that will be able to continue to be the case".
The comments from the senior Pentagon official come two days after Shehbaz Sharif was elected as the prime minister of Pakistan, replacing Imran Khan who was ousted last week through a parliament vote.
In a press briefing on Tuesday, Kirby said the US had shared interests with Pakistan with respect to security and stability in "that part of the world".
"We recognise that Pakistan plays a key role in the region. We recognise that Pakistan and the Pakistani people are, themselves, victims of terrorist attacks inside their own country," he added.In response to a question about election of Shehbaz Sharif as the prime minister and allegations of the ousted premier Imran Khan against the US for its role in regime change, Kirby declined to offer a comment.
"I think you can understand that we're not going to comment about domestic politics inside Pakistan," he responded.
When asked whether the US was prepared in case Pakistan's military intervenes amid street protests organised by former prime minister Imran Khan "with his very large crowd of supporters", Kirby said he did not foresee any US military role there.
"And I'm certainly not going to, again, wade into internal domestic politics in Pakistan," he said.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki had earlier said that a democratic Pakistan was critical to US interests.
Ties between Islamabad and Washington touched a new low after former prime minister Imran Khan accused the US of conspiring to dislodge his government. He based his allegation on a diplomatic cable in which it was reportedly said that a State Department official had warned of consequences for bilateral ties if the no-confidence motion failed.
Washington has denied the allegation.
Mending fences with the US would be one of the top foreign policy priorities for the new government.
