The Foreign Office on Tuesday categorically rejected the claim made by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Shahbaz Gill as “entirely baseless” that the Cypher Communication received from the Embassy in Washington was ‘hidden’ from the then foreign minister or prime minister. “Such a question simply does not arise. The Foreign Office operates on professional basis and it would be detrimental to cast aspersions on its working,” Asim Iftikhar, the spokesperson of Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. Gill, while talking to the media outside the Supreme Court earlier in the day, had claimed that the diplomatic cypher was with ‘powerful quarters’ and hidden from the then prime minister, Imran Khan and foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi. He said Qureshi on finding out about the cypher said, “Why it was not shared with me?”
Imran Khan claims that his government was ousted through a US-orchestrated regime change conspiracy because Washington was not happy with his independent foreign policy, especially his trip to Moscow at a time when Russia invaded Ukraine.
The PTI chairman, while referring to the diplomatic cypher from Pakistan’s ambassador to the US, is of the opinion that a senior US administration official had warned of “consequences” if no-confidence vote against him did not go through parliament.
