WASHINGTON: A United States State Department spokesperson Wednesday refrained from commenting on former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s statement absolving the Biden administration of involvement in any conspiracy to oust him from power, saying the U.S. values its long-standing relationship with Pakistan.
“I’m just not going to comment on the evolution of the blame game, as you say,” Spokesman Ned Price said in a response to a question from a private Pakistani television channel’s correspondent about Khan’s latest U-turn from his previous position of blaming his overthrow on the U.S.
“We have spoken clearly about this ever since these erroneous allegations surfaced. We’ve consistently said there is no truth to these allegations,” Price added.
”We value our long-standing cooperation with Pakistan. We’ve always viewed a prosperous and democratic Pakistan as critical to our interests. That very much remains unchanged.
Whether it has come to an end or not, we don’t let propaganda, misinformation, disinformation get in the way of any bilateral relationship,” the spokesperson told reporters at his daily press briefing.
”That, of course, includes our valued bilateral relationship with Pakistan. When it comes to various political players inside of Pakistan, we don’t have a position on one political candidate or party versus another.
We support, as we do around the world, the peaceful upholding of democratic, constitutional, and legal principles,” Price said.
Asked about the visit of a Pakistani defence delegation now visiting Washington and prospects of resumption of security assistance to Pakistan, the spokesperson said, “Nothing I’m in a position to share publicly beyond the fact that Pakistan is a valued partner of the United States. It’s valued across many realms.
‘Of course we have a security relationship that is important to us knowing that many of the threats Pakistan faces could well in turn be threats to us. And so we value the work we do together, but I’m just not in a position to offer anything beyond that,” he added. –Agencies
