Threatening letter to PM: Can Pakistan cut ties with US?

After interfering in the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan and the alleged threats, questions are being raised in the minds of the people as to why Pakistan is reluctant to sever ties with the United States despite its limited intervention.

Prime Minister’s claim

PM Imran Khan, while addressing a public meeting in Islamabad on March 27, had claimed that an attempt was being made to change the government with the help of money from outside. We are being threatened and I have a letter as proof, the prime minister claimed.

Federal Ministers Asad Umar and Fawad Chaudhry had claimed that the letter came before the no-confidence motion in which it was bluntly stated that if Imran Khan remained the Prime Minister, there could be dangerous consequences and assassinate Imran Khan. Concerns were also raised over the issue, while federal ministers have blamed former prime minister Nawaz Sharif for the plot.

US explanation for the allegations

The prime minister, while mentioning the foreign conspiracy, refused to name the country concerned. The letter was written by Asad Majeed, Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States.

In response to PM Imran Khan’s allegations, the US State Department has denied any involvement in the threatening letter against the prime minister.

The US State Department has said that there is no truth in the allegations made in the threatening letter. Support the rule of law and respect the constitutional process in Pakistan.

Government initiative

Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry has been given the additional portfolio of Law and Justice, replacing Barrister Farogh Naseem, who resigned due to a split from the MQM government.

Fawad Chaudhry has been directed to set up a commission on global conspiracy as soon as he takes charge of the law ministry. The commission will examine factors such as the change of government and the no-confidence motion from the global conspiracy. The commission will investigate the global conspiracy and compile its report.

Pak-US relations

Relations between Pakistan and the United States have always been volatile. In the current administration, the situation is such that US President Joe Biden did not even bother to talk to the Pakistani government after taking office. Pakistan has suffered a heavy loss of life and property in the Afghan war but the nation was not taken into confidence in the withdrawal from Afghanistan by the United States.

US aid

The US Embassy in Pakistan said that the people of Pakistan and the United States have a common desire for stability, peace, and the promotion of regional and international economic development and it has yielded real results for solving key issues for Pakistanis, including economic development.

Since 2009, the US government has provided more than Rs. 5 billion in civilian aid to Pakistan and more than Rs. 1 billion for disaster relief.

During Pakistan’s fiscal year 2019-20, the United States was once again the leading donor to Pakistan on the basis of budget and financial assistance. The nature of US aid to Pakistan is always financial, so the debt burden on Pakistan’s economy and the imbalance in expenditure and income does not arise.

Bilateral trade

Apart from being a major strategic partner of Pakistan, the United States is an important trading nation, and today Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa while addressing the Case of Security Dialogue said that peace and stability are of fundamental importance for prosperity and development.

“We want to expand relations with the United States without affecting relations with any country. We have excellent and long-standing strategic relations with the United States and the United States is the largest export market for Pakistan,” Bajwa said.

The last letter

Relations between Pakistan and the United States have a long history of tensions, but aid and trade between the two countries continue, and Pakistan needs more trade than aid at this time.

The fact is that Pakistan now stands with China and Russia out of US influence and if Pakistan severs ties with the US after recent government statements then it will have to bear a huge trade deficit which Pakistan cannot immediately bear.