By Asif Shahzad
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Pakistan’s army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa said on Saturday his country sought to expand its relationship with Washington, a day after Islamabad protested to the U.S. embassy over alleged interference in its internal affairs.
Prime Minister Imran Khan had said on Friday that Islamabad had given a protest note to the American embassy over what he described as a foreign conspiracy to oust him from power.
“We share a long history of excellent and strategic relationship with the United States, which remains our largest export market,” Bajwa told a security conference in Islamabad.
Also highlighting close diplomatic and business relationships with longtime ally China, Bajwa added: “We seek to expand and broaden our ties with both countries without impacting our relations with the other.”
Faced with a tight no-confidence vote on Sunday that could
see Khan ousted after defections from his ruling coalition, he has been alleging in his campaign to remain in power that a foreign-funded conspiracy was backing his ouster after he visited Moscow in February.
The U.S. embassy in Islamabad did not immediately reply to a
request for comment. The White House has denied that the United States had been seeking to remove Khan from power.
Khan met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on the
day Russian forces invaded neighbouring Ukraine.
Bajwa said Pakistan was deeply concerned over the conflict in Ukraine, adding his country also enjoyed longstanding relations with Russia, but “despite legitimate concerns by Russia, its aggression against the smaller countries can’t be condoned.”
(Reporting by Asif Shahzad; Editing by David Holmes)
