Washington DC [US], May 20 (ANI): The United States State Department has said that Pakistani politics are 'a matter for the Pakistani people to decide' following the publication of a classified diplomatic cable that alleges a senior American diplomat told Islamabad that 'all will be forgiven' in Washington if then-Prime Minister Imran Khan was removed from office.

The response, provided on background and attributable to a State Department spokesperson, came after ANI sought comment on the publication by US investigative outlet Drop Site News of Cable I-0678, a document that has sat at the centre of Pakistani political controversy for more than four years. The spokesperson did not address the specific contents of the cable or the alleged remarks attributed to the American diplomat concerned.

Reported by Dropsite, Cable I-0678, stamped 'secret' and marked 'no circulation', dated 7 March 2022, documents a luncheon meeting between Pakistan's then ambassador in Washington, Asad Majeed Khan, and Donald Lu, the US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs. According to the cable, Lu said Khan's Moscow visit had caused serious concern in Washington.

That visit took place on 24 February 2022 -- the very day Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. According to the cable, Lu allegedly told the Pakistani ambassador that Washington's concerns regarding Khan's government could be resolved if the prime minister were removed through a parliamentary no-confidence vote.

The phrase 'all will be forgiven' was later cited by the Pakistani ambassador in reference to the discussion. In the assessment section of the telegram, Ambassador Khan warned his superiors that Lu 'could not have conveyed such a strong demarche without the express approval of the White House' and concluded that the American diplomat had 'spoken out of turn on Pakistan's internal political process.'

Khan had alleged earlier in 2022 a 'conspiracy' was afoot to remove him from power. During a Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) rally in Islamabad, he pulled out a document which he said proved the conspiracy Khan was ultimately removed as Prime Minister by a no confidence vote in Parliament on April 9, 2022. However, even then, those claims had been rebuffed by the US, with the then US Assistant Secretary of State Donald Lu rebuffing the cypher allegations, denouncing them as a 'conspiracy theory, lie, and complete falsehood.' (ANI)