Shocking release of ‘historic’ Pakistan diplomatic cable on U.S.-backed ousting of Khan

Drop Site News have released a “historic” Pakistani diplomatic cable revealing that U.S. officials tied forgiveness for Pakistan’s Russia-friendly actions to Imran Khan’s 2022 removal from office.

The cable was sent on March 7, 2022, from Pakistan’s ambassador in Washington, Asad Majeed Khan, to the Foreign Office in Islamabad, with copies distributed to multiple recipients, including the secretary to the prime minister, the foreign secretary, and the chief of army staff. The letter detailed Majeed Khan’s meeting with U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Donald Lu.

Drop Site News stated that their copy came from one of the military recipients (not the Prime Minister’s office), specifically from an individual within the Pakistani military who is disillusioned with the country’s leadership.

Imran Khan was ousted from power after losing a no-confidence vote in his leadership in April 2022. Khan was then detained in 2023 on charges including corruption. He has been in prison since and denies the charges.

Khan and his team have referred to this diplomatic cable in his defence against corruption charges, but the cable itself has not been made public before.

“All will be forgiven in Washington”

Russian president Vladimir Putin hosted Pakistan’s then-prime minister Imran Khan in Moscow in February 2022, at the start of the Russia-Ukraine war.

The cable shows that Lu told Majeed Khan that Khan’s Moscow visit was the problem. The cable quotes Lu saying:

I think if the no confidence vote against the Prime Minister succeeds, all will be forgiven in Washington because the Russia visit is being looked at as a decision by the Prime Minister. Otherwise, I think it will be tough going ahead

Lu also apparently told Majeed Khan:

Honestly, I think isolation of the Prime Minister will become very strong from Europe and the United States.

Imran Khan has told the public that he wasn’t aware that Russia was going to invade Ukraine on the same day he met Putin in Moscow.

The “London Plan”

Drop Site also reported on what Imran Khan called “the London Plan,” in the story accompanying the leaked cable called :

From Mutual Suspicion to Political Embrace: How the U.S. Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Pakistan

The news outlet detailed that after Asim Munir was fired as the intelligence chief in 2019 by Imran Khan following just eight months on the job, he travelled to London and met with former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

Drop Site detail that when Sharif was living in exile in London, Khan alleged that Munir and Sharif made a deal: Munir would become army chief in exchange for removing Khan from power and dismantling his political party. Munir was appointed army chief in November 2022

The news outlet is scathing of Munir, stating:

For the first time, the checks and balances surrounding Pakistan’s nuclear command had been unified under a single person: the country’s staunchly pro-U.S. army chief.

They also credit Munir for slowing Pakistan’s relationship with China to a halt.

Cryptocurrency and rare earths

Drop Site also detailed how Pakistan’s military-led government has worked to curry favour with the Trump administration. These include:

• Pakistan’s agreement with a firm connected to World Liberty Financial, the main crypto business of U.S. President Donald Trump’s family, ​to explore using World Liberty’s USD1 stablecoin for cross-border payments.
• a partnership between the US’s Strategic Minerals and Pakistan’s Frontier Works Organisation (FWO), signed in September 2025, giving US access to Pakistan’s resources
• Pakistan on Trump’s joke of the Board of so-called Peace in Gaza

Diplomatic role during the war on Iran

Despite Pakistan’s efforts within Washington circles, they are yet to win those deep in Israel’s pocket, the article states, giving the example of Lindsey Graham, who has recently said he doesn’t trust Pakistan. Drop Site states:

Meanwhile, there is increasing pressure on President Trump from pro-Israel voices in the United States to drop Pakistan as a mediator in the Iran talks and reassess Islamabad’s growing political and military proximity to the administration.

No amount of concessions will appease Zionists; Pakistan has yet to learn that.

Drop Site added that Iran has publicly questioned Pakistan’s impartiality as a mediator, with an Iranian national security spokesperson stating that Pakistan “always takes Trump’s interests into account.”

The Canary has previously reported on Pakistan’s diplomatic role in the war and the lingering question of Khan’s incarceration, casting a shadow on it.

Khan’s supporters

In February, Pakistan Tehreek-Insaaf (PTI), Pakistan’s main opposition party, founded by Khan himself, called a general strike in Pakistan amid Khan’s incarceration, the second anniversary of the “rigged elections”, and Pakistan’s participation in Trump’s Board of Peace for Gaza, according to People’s Dispatch.

The outlet reported:

February 8 marks the anniversary of the 2024 Pakistani general elections, which were held two years after the removal of Imran Khan, of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), from the office of prime minister in a vote of no confidence. The 2024 elections were marred with irregularities, seemingly aimed at preventing the victory of the PTI and Imran Khan who was already in prison.

Khan is loved by millions of young Pakistanis who turned out to vote for him in 2024 despite the military-backed crackdown. Reuters reported at that time, “PTI’s strong showing suggests a possible protest element spurring turnout and the enduring resilience of Khan’s support.”

The shadow of Khan’s imprisonment is long indeed, and Pakistanis will need more answers.

Featured image via Getty Images/Carl Court

By The Canary

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