Washington/Islamabad: A leaked diplomatic cable suggests that the US’ ire at then-Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan for his trip to Russia February 24, 2022, the day of the attack on Ukraine, played a role in his removal from the office, according to an American media outlet.
The Drop Site News released a copy of the classified cable called cypher sent by Pakistan’s envoy to the US Asad Majeed Khan to the Foreign Secretary in Islamabad, documenting his meeting with US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Donald Lu March 7, 2022.
According to the cable, the US official told the Pakistani envoy that Khan’s visit to Russia had “created a dent” in the bilateral relationship and suggested that “all will be forgiven” if the no-confidence motion against the Prime Minister succeeded.
“I would argue that it has already created a dent in the relationship from our perspective. Let us just wait for a few days to see whether the political situation changes, which would mean that we would not have a big disagreement about this issue, and the dent would go away very quickly,” Lu told the Pakistani envoy during the meeting.
According to the assessment of the Pakistani envoy, the US diplomat told him that if the no-confidence motion did not succeed, “it will be tough going ahead”.
“I don’t think how this will be seen by Europe, but I suspect their reaction would be similar,” Lu told the Pakistani envoy, according to the cable.
The report suggests that the US was also upset with Khan for not allowing US forces to use Pakistani bases against Afghanistan.Â
Khan was ousted on April 10, 2022, when a no-confidence motion against him was passed in Pakistan’s National Assembly.
The Drop Site shared the alleged copy of the secret cypher on X. It was not clear if the shared cable was authentic, but it created debate on social media, with Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf party jumping in to use it for advantage.
“Now it has been proved that cypher was a reality. It is also true that it was stated in cypher that if no confidence movement against PTI and Imran Khan succeeds, then it will be in your (Pakistan) interest,” Barrister Salman Akram Raja, PTI Secretary General, told a press conference in Islamabad.Â
The controversial cable first hit headlines when addressing a public rally in March 2022, Khan pulled out a paper from his pocket and waved it to the public, claiming that it was proof of the conspiracy against his government, which was facing a no-trust move.
The Drop Site News reported that the US ties with Islamabad improved after Khan’s ouster, but were tested again when the then Pakistan Army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa failed to provide access to Washington to key nuclear sites in his country.
The turn of events prompted the then US President Joe Biden to describe Pakistan as “one of the most dangerous nations in the world” because the country has “nuclear weapons without any cohesion.”
Bajwa stepped down as Pakistan Army chief soon after, and Asim Munir succeeded him.
In 2025, after three tumultuous years heading the military-led government, Munir promoted himself to the rank of Field Marshal, created a new office of Chief of Defence Forces for himself, and abolished the role of Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (JCSC) through a constitutional amendment, the media outlet reported.Â
The series of bureaucratic manoeuvres – unprecedented in Pakistani history – also had the effect of placing Munir personally in charge of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons, it said.
For the first time, the checks and balances surrounding Pakistan’s nuclear command had been unified under a single person: the country’s staunchly pro-US army chief, the media outlet reported.
According to the report, the International Monetary Fund’s bailouts to Pakistan were quietly tied to the continuation of military supplies linked to the Ukraine conflict. Pakistan also signed a Saudi defence pact that Khan’s government had resisted.
After his ouster, Khan built an entire campaign on the cypher, using it as proof of an international conspiracy to oust him from power.
Later, a case was launched against him for violation of the secret laws of the country. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s coalition government had ordered an investigation into the case under the Official Secrets Act on July 19, 2023, and later on August 29, 2023, Khan was arrested in the cypher case.
A special court in Islamabad convicted Khan and former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi in the case in January 2024 and sentenced them to 10 years in prison each, but this decision was challenged by the Tehreek-e-Insaf in the Islamabad High Court.
On June 3, 2024, a two-member division bench of the Islamabad High Court accepted the appeals and declared the sentences of Khan null and void.
PTI