ISLAMABAD: US Assis­tant Secretary of State for Central and South Asia Donald Lu, who was recently named by Imran Khan as being the official who made threatening remarks about his regime in a letter, evaded the question when asked about the regime change in Pakistan.

The State Department official, who is currently visiting India, was interviewed by the Hindustan Times.

During the interview, on a question about his conversation with Pakistan’s ambassador in Washington, the interviewer asked: “Imran Khan seems to suggest that you had a conversation with the Pakistani ambassador in the US and told him that if Imran Khan survives the no-confidence motion, Pakistan is in trouble and the US wont forgive Pakistan. Any response?”

Donald Lu avoided direct reply and said: “We are following developments in Pakistan, and we respect and support Pakistan’s constitutional process and the rule of law.”

Asked whether he had such conversation, the US official skipped the question again, simply saying: “That’s all I have for you on that question.”

Separately, responding to a Dawn query about Imran Khan’s remarks regarding Mr Lu, a State Department spokesperson simply echoed the assistant secretary’s sentiments, saying: “There is absolutely no truth to that allegation.”

Published in Dawn, April 5th, 2022