US wants an obedient puppet as PM in Pakistan, says Imran Khan

Former prime minister of Pakistan Imran Khan has said remarks of US defence analyst in a Fox News show removed ‘all doubts’ regarding US-sponsored "foreign conspiracy" behind his ouster from prime minister post.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan's remarks came after US defence analyst Rebecca Grant told the Fox News programme that, "Pakistan needs to support Ukraine, stop looking for deals with Russia right now, limit their involvement with China, and stop the anti-American policies that are part of the reason that Imran Khan.”

Soon after the video made rounds on social media, Imran, in a series of tweets, claimed vindication for his stance, saying it should "remove all doubts" about why a democratically elected prime minister and his government were ousted, according to Dawn.

He asked US President Joe Biden's administration whether it believed it had increased or decreased "anti-American" sentiment in Pakistan by indulging in what he termed as a "regime-change conspiracy".

"My question for the Biden Administration: By indulging in a regime-change conspiracy to remove a democratically elected PM of a country of over 220 [million] people to bring in a puppet PM, do you think you have lessened or increased anti-American sentiment in Pakistan?" he questioned.

"Clearly the US wants an obedient puppet as PM who will not allow Pak choice of neutrality in a European war; a PM who will be obedient to US demands; who will not sign agreements with Russia & who will downgrade our strategic [relationship] with China," Imran, who was ousted from the government after losing a no-confidence vote on April 9, said.

“If a Pakistani prime minister asserted the country's sovereignty and formulated an independent foreign policy, he would be removed and a "subservient, crooked PM like [Shehbaz] Sharif will be brought in", the former premier claimed.

Terming the video clip a reaffirmation of "US regime-change conspiracy", Imran said it was the chief justice of Pakistan's duty to form a commission to hold public hearings to determine who was involved in it.