Pakistan rejects Khalilzad’s ‘unsolicited advice’ on politics

• The FO says the nation will emerge stronger from the “current difficult situation”.
• “Pakistan does not need anyone’s lectures or unnecessary advice.”
• Zalmay Khalilzad said that the crisis will deepen with the arrest of Imran Khan.

ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has given a shut-up call to the former US Special Envoy to Afghanistan. Zalmay Khalilzad Interference in the internal affairs of Pakistan News reported on Thursday.

The Foreign Office’s response came after the former US special envoy to Afghanistan said the arrest of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan would “deepen” the crisis, with serious “spirituality”. Exploration and bold thinking” is called for.

“Pakistan does not need lectures or unsolicited advice from anyone to tackle today’s challenges. As a resilient nation, we will emerge stronger from the current difficult situation,” said Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch.

PTI workers and police The clash lasted for about 24 hours. As Zaman Park became a virtual battleground, law enforcers were scrambling to wade through supporters and arrest Khan, who was ousted as prime minister last April.

Law enforcement agencies fired teargas shells and party supporters resorted to throwing Molotov cocktails, injuring several people, including policemen and PTI workers.

After an hours-long standoff between the authorities and PTI activists, the Lahore High Court (LHC) ordered the police to suspend operations at Lahore’s Zaman Park till tomorrow morning.

The move to arrest Khan came after a lower court in the capital Islamabad issued a warrant against him for allegedly defying orders to present himself in court. He had illegally sold government gifts given to him. Foreign dignitaries When he was the Prime Minister from 2018 to 2022.

The legal proceedings against Khan began after he was ousted in a parliamentary vote early last year. Since then, he has held nationwide protest rallies calling for early elections, during one of which he was shot and wounded.

In a series of tweets, Khalilzad explained the three problems facing Pakistan — political, economic and security — and called for a serious strategy to avoid crises.

Furthermore, the former US envoy said that “perpetual genocide” by imprisoning, executing and killing political leaders was the wrong way to go.

Urging the Pakistani government to take necessary steps to save the country from crisis, Khalilzad said a date should be set for national elections in early June.

He said that in the meantime, the government should make a plan to save the country and take it on the path of stability, security and prosperity. He further said that whichever party wins the election will get the people’s mandate on what to do.