Yesterday, Pakistan's lawmakers voted to remove Prime Minister Imran Khan from office in a vote of no confidence, this is while Imran Khan said that Donald Lu, the top American official dealing with South Asia in the US State Department, was involved in the conspiracy to topple his government.
Imran Khan said that Donald Lu warned the Pakistani envoy to the US, Asad Majeed, that there would be implications if the Pakistan PM survived the no-trust vote in the National Assembly.
Donald Lu has served in India and Pakistan as a Political Officer, and also served as Special Assistant to the Ambassador in New Delhi, India.
To shed light on the issue, we reached out to Nader Entessar, professor emeritus of political science from the University of South Alabama.
Here is the full text of the interview:
What are the reasons that can cause the US to do its best to topple Imran Khan?
So far, other than Imran Khan's claims, no concrete evidence of Washington's involvement in toppling Pakistan's PM has been made public. But what we know is that the United States has long been behind domestic machinations and power micromanagement in Pakistan. At least ever since the overthrow of PM Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the United States has manipulated Pakistani politics to Washington's advantage and gotten its way. If the United States came to the conclusion that Imran Khan and his policies were hindering the implementation of Washington's regional policies, then it is conceivable that the Biden administration may have decided to destabilize Imran Khan's government. Again, it is too early to draw definitive conclusions about the perpetrator(s) of the current turmoil in Pakistan.
What can be the effects of toppling Imran Khan’s government and replacing it with a pro-US government in the region, particularly in Afghanistan?
A pliant and pro-US government in Pakistan will be crucial in helping the United States once again to put itself front and center in Afghanistan and use that country as an important pawn in Washington's South and Central Asian policies in order to contain or confront Washington's regional adversaries as well as against Russia and perhaps China.
Any impacts and consequences for Iran?
A staunchly pro-US government will make it easier for Washington to sharpen its "maximum pressure" policies against Iran by other means by destabilizing Iran's eastern frontiers as well as Afghanistan, thus damaging both Iran's national security and economic plans in the broader South Asia- Central Asia region.
Interview by Payman Yazdani
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