Pakistan’s Constitutional Crisis Complicates China’s Position in the Region

Supporters of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party of dismissed Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan, take part in a rally in his support in Peshawar on April 10, 2022. Abdul MAJEED / AFP

Pakistan’s Prime Minister, Imran Khan is out, after losing a last-minute no-confidence vote in the country’s parliament on April 9. This follows a dramatic week of maneuvering to avoid the vote, which Khan has blamed on a “foreign conspiracy” of traitors and U.S. officials.

The U.S.-Pakistan relationship was already shaky before the crisis, in part due to Khan’s infamous visit to Moscow on the day of the Ukraine invasion. In response to Khan’s conspiracy charge, Jalina Porter, a deputy spokesperson for the State Department said: “Let me just say very bluntly there is absolutely no truth to these allegations.”

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