Former US ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad expressed his shock at Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah’s recent “threatening comments” towards PTI leader Imran Khan, describing the statement as inciting violence.
On Tuesday, Khalilzad took to Twitter to condemn the Pakistani interior minister’s shocking statement that “either Imran Khan exists or we do,” calling for all God-fearing and law-abiding Pakistanis to reject it.
In a recent interview, Sanaullah stated that the political situation in Pakistan had reached a point where the ruling Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) might resort to any means necessary to protect itself from PTI leader Imran Khan.
“The country’s politics has been brought to the level where the existence of only one of the two [PTI and PML-N] is possible,” the interior minister said during a Saturday interview.
Khalilzad characterized Sanaullah’s comments as incitement to violence against a major political leader in Pakistan and urged Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to distance himself from his minister’s statements publicly.
“This mindset is a significant cause of Pakistan’s dysfunctionality. If it does not change, the country will continue to be mired in crisis,” he added.
The former US envoy remained unfazed by the Pakistani Foreign Office’s repeated warnings against interfering in the nation’s internal affairs, continuing to issue statements primarily supporting PTI leader Imran Khan.
Earlier today, Principal Deputy Spokesperson for the United States Department of State Vedant Patel clarified that Khalilzad’s opinions did not represent Washington’s foreign policy and were expressed privately.
Read: Khalilzad’s comments on Pakistan are personal: US State Department
