ISLAMABAD: On Friday, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Senior Vice-President Fawad Chaudhry confirmed that he met with US Ambassador Donald Blome and other top officials to discuss the deteriorating human rights situation in Pakistan.
The previous minister of information tweeted: “I enjoyed my meeting with the US ambassador and top government officials. Discussions were particularly focused on Pakistan’s deteriorating HR (human rights) situation.”
The PTI leader claimed that he raised concerns about the “misuse of anti-terrorism and blasphemy laws by the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM)-led government against the political opponents” with US government representatives.
The political environment and PTI’s position on various issues were discussed during the meeting, according to Fawad. He continued by saying that these gatherings are a reflection of a shared desire for relationships built on equality and the welfare of individuals.
Following the PTI Chairman Imran Khan’s U-turn on his long-held position of blaming the US for conspiracies to overthrow his government in April of last year, the PTI leader met with US diplomats.
Khan, who was ousted by a vote of no confidence in April of last year, had long maintained that the US had supported the regime change because it wanted to establish military bases in Pakistan and use the nation once more to further its foreign policy goals in the region and beyond.
The PTI chairman has claimed in his public speeches, interviews with the media, and on other occasions that the US and its assistant secretary of state Donald Lu were behind the overthrow of his government. He has even demanded that the US diplomat be fired for making threats against the nation.
To the surprise of many, he reversed course and asserted that former chief of the army staff (COAS) General (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa had close ties to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and that they conspired to bring about the regime change in an interview with the Voice of America.
