The US State Department recently announced that Donald Lu, the Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, has officially ended his term on January 17, 2025.
The confirmation of Lu’s departure, who had been at the helm of the bureau overseeing US relations with Pakistan since September 15, 2021, was posted quietly on the department’s official website.
During his time in office, Lu found himself at the centre of a significant controversy following allegations made by Imran Khan, the founder of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and former Prime Minister of Pakistan. Khan accused Lu of playing a role in his ousting through a parliamentary vote of no confidence orchestrated by his political adversaries, led by the now-ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) in April 2022.
The allegations surfaced publicly on March 27, 2022, when Khan, just weeks before his removal, revealed a letter at a rally claiming it contained evidence of a foreign conspiracy to topple his PTI-led government. Although he initially withheld specifics about the country involved, he later directly accused the United States of supporting the opposition’s no-confidence motion, a claim centered around a cipher from Pakistan’s then-ambassador to the US, Asad Majeed.
Read: Chants of ‘Lies, Lies’ Interrupt Donald Lu’s Speech on Imran Khan Allegations
The State Department has consistently refuted these allegations. In March 2024, during his testimony before a Congressional panel, Lu addressed the controversy, often called “ciphergate.” He emphatically denied the conspiracy theory, labelling it as entirely false.
Despite calls from PTI activists for his resignation after the controversy, the State Department’s announcement indicates that Lu’s departure was a routine conclusion of his service term, not a dismissal.
Lu, a veteran foreign service officer, has dedicated over 30 years to serving the US government. Originally from Huntington Beach, California, he holds a master’s and a bachelor’s degree in international relations from Princeton University. Before becoming Assistant Secretary, Lu was the US Ambassador to the Kyrgyz Republic from 2018 to 2021 and the Republic of Albania from 2015 to 2018. His extensive career also includes positions as special assistant to the ambassador in New Delhi (1996-1997) and political officer in Peshawar (1992-1994).
