ISLAMABAD - Over 100 Pakistani lawmakers have written to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressing concerns over a letter from US Congress members to President Joe Biden that called for the release of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan.
“We write to express our concerns over the unwarranted and inaccurate commentary on Pakistan’s domestic politics by 62 Members of the US House of Representatives,” the letter states, describing the US lawmakers’ stance as a skewed view of realities. The letter, signed by 160 parliamentarians, argues that the US lawmakers’ appeal to President Biden amounts to external interference and unfairly amplifies the political narrative of a single party at the expense of Pakistan’s state institutions and other political groups.
The response comes after US lawmakers urged President Biden to use substantial leverage with the Pakistan’s government to secure the release of prisoners including former prime minister Imran Khan.
The letter also made an appeal for US embassy officials to visit Imran Khan who is currently behind the bars at Adiala jail and has been imprisoned at the said facility for more than a year now.
This isn’t the first time legislators in Islamabad and Washington have come face to face as previously US lawmakers, in June, had passed “House Resolution 901” by a massive majority — with 368 members in the House of Representatives voting in its favour — which called for urging an impartial probe into the claims of irregularities during the February 8 general elections in the country.
The resolution was swiftly responded to by Pakistani lawmakers who passed a motion condemning the US resolution terming it “contrary to facts” and “interference” in its internal affairs.
Following the recent letter by Washington’s legislators — labelled “contrary to inter-state conduct and diplomatic norms” by Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch — US State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller on Wednesday said that Khan’s imprisonment was to be decided by Pakistani courts.