Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan was removed by parliament, and he claims that the Biden admin. incentivized the opposition party in meetings to encourage a regime change.
Prime Minister Khan and President Biden have not met since Biden took office and Pakistan grew even closer with Russia and China since.
Pakistan’s stance towards Afghanistan has also been problematic for the U.S.
After the Taliban took over Kabul, Prime Minister Imran Khan declared that the Taliban were “breaking the chains of slavery.”
Another action that aggravated Western nations was when Pakistan planned to finalize a Russian-built gas pipeline despite international pressure to isolate Moscow economically after the invasion of Ukraine.
Khan maintained that Pakistan’s economy is dependent on Russian exports.
Pakistan abstained from condemning Russia in a U.N. General Assembly vote, with Khan attacking the western countries at a campaign rally for treating Pakistanis like “slaves.”
174 lawmakers in the 342-seat Parliament voted to depose him, two more than the required simple majority.
The vote took place after Pakistan’s Supreme Court ruled that a decision to block a previous no confidence vote against Khan over allegations of economic mismanagement was unconstitutional.
Khan claims that the United States backed the opposition party to remove him.
“They say they are angry with Pakistan. ... They say they will forgive Pakistan if Imran Khan loses a no-trust motion. But if the vote fails, Pakistan will have to face serious consequences,” Khan said, citing the text of a memo, which he has not made public.
Khan said he had been singled out by the US because, unlike his opponents, he would not “easily be used as a puppet by the West,” with regard to his independent foreign policy. He said how he is not anti-American but would not let his nation “be used as a tissue paper” in a “one-sided relationship.”
The U.S. State Department has denied his allegations in a statement, “we are closely following developments in Pakistan, and we respect, we support Pakistan’s constitutional process and the rule of law, but when it comes to those allegations, there is no truth to them."
The newly elected Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif, is the younger brother of Khan’s predecessor, Nawaz Sharif, who served as prime minister for a third term in 2013—2017.
Nawaz Sharif, would be convicted of corruption and disqualified from holding public office by Pakistan’s Supreme Court in 2017 after being named in the Panama Papers.
Many are pointing to Nawaz Sharif’s relations with the U.S. while Biden was Vice President as why the U.S. would favor Shehbaz Sharif as Khan’s replacement.
The Russian Ministry stated, “according to the Pakistani media, on March 7 this year. in a conversation with Pakistani Ambassador A. Majid, a high-ranking American official (presumably the same D. Liu) sharply condemned the balanced reaction of the Pakistani leadership to the events in Ukraine and made it clear that partnership with the United States is possible only if Imran Khan is removed from power. The further development of the situation leaves no doubt that the United States decided to punish the "disobedient" Imran Khan: a group of deputies of the same party of the prime minister "suddenly" went over to the opposition and the question of a vote of no confidence in the head of government was immediately submitted to the parliament, the vote on which was scheduled for April 3rd. There is another attempt of shameless US interference in the internal affairs of an independent state for its own selfish purposes. The above facts eloquently testify to this.”
After Shehbaz Sharif was sworn in as the prime minister, the White House said it values its long-standing cooperation with Islamabad. “We value our long-standing cooperation with Pakistan and have always viewed a prosperous and democratic Pakistan critical to US interests. That remains unchanged regardless of who the leadership is,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said.
Sources:
https://www.ft.com/content/9294890a-593c-442b-bc53-13099d14d36f
https://www.voanews.com/a/pakistan-sends-us-demarche-over-alleged-political-meddling/6511766.html
https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/09/asia/imran-khan-voted-out-pakistan-prime-minister-intl-hnk/index.html
https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/what-us-said-after-shehbaz-sharif-takes-over-as-pak-pm-2880058