ISLAMABAD: The contents of a purported diplomatic cable — cited by former prime minister Imran Khan as proof of a conspiracy to remove his government last year — had vindicated Mr Khan’s stance, the PTI said on Wednesday and demanded a judicial inquiry to investigate the issue and make its findings public.

The party’s reaction came a day after a US-based news organisation reproduced what it said was the cipher sent to Islamabad last year by Asad Majeed Khan, who was Pakistan’s ambassador to the US at the time.

The document contained an acc­o­unt of a meeting between Mr Majeed and US State Department officials, including Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu.

“The cipher story has irrevocably established the credibility and justness of the stance” that Mr Khan had repeatedly reiterated reg­­arding the developments that allegedly led to the removal of his government through a no-trust vote, the PTI said in a statement issued by its central media department.

“At the meeting of the National Security Committee that [Mr] Khan convened to discuss the matter, it was concluded that the cipher communication ‘amounted to blatant interference in the internal affairs of Pakistan by the country in question which was unacceptable in any circumstances’,” the party said.

The PTI said the NSC had also decided to “issue a demarche to the country in question, both in Islamabad and the country’s capital through a proper channel in keeping with diplomatic norms”.

“It is important that the cipher debate should now be put in its right perspective and acknowledge that intervention in Pakistan’s int­e­r­nal affairs had indeed taken place whi­ch led to the moving of a no-con­fidence vote against Prime Minister Imran Khan,” the party said.

Published in Dawn, August 11th, 2023