US denies Khan’s claim it wants him ousted in Pakistan

Bloomberg

The US denied claims from Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan that the Biden administration is seeking to oust his government, which seems to have lost its majority in parliament ahead of a no-confidence vote on Sunday.
He said it’s evidence of an “international conspiracy” to unseat him, even though he has yet to publicly release the document. In separate developments, Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said “requisite demarches have been made” and the country’s National Security Committee, which includes top civil and military leaders, termed the alleged interference as “unacceptable.” “To an independent country, a message like this which apparently is against the prime minister is actually against our nation,” Khan said.
Asked for a reaction, US State Department spokesman Ned Price said there was “no truth” to the allegations. “We are closely following developments in Pakistan, and we respect, we support Pakistan’s constitutional process and the rule of law,” he said.
Khan is fighting to win back support after local media said his opponents pulled 196 lawmakers over to their side, well more than the 172 needed in Parliament’s lower house National Assembly to vote out the former cricket star. The opposition has named Shehbaz Sharif, the brother of self-exiled former leader Nawaz Sharif, to lead the next coalition government if Khan is voted out.
The prime minister “is shifting the burden,” said Zafar Nawaz Jaspal, a professor at the Quaid-i-Azam University in Islamabad. “It could be a political argument which may be contributing to Khan’s popularity among the anti-American forces within the country.”