Khalilzad urges PM Shehbaz to disassociate from Rana Sana’s threats to Imran Khan

ISLAMABAD: Former U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan, Iraq & the United Nations Zalmay Khalilzad again took to social media blogging site, Twitter, on Tuesday to express his shock over the recent threatening statement of Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah against former premier Imran Khan. 

#Pakistan Interior Minister’s statement that “either Imran Khan exists or we do” is shocking and should be rejected by all God fearing and law abiding Pakistanis. It is an incitement to violence against a major political leader,” said Khalilzad, urging Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to publicly disassociate himself from his minister’s comments.
“This mindset is a big reason for Pakistan’s dysfunctionality. If that does not change, the country will continue to be mired in crisis,” he added. 

Interestingly, the US State Department has disassociated itself from Khalilzad’s statements on Pakistan’s deteriorating law and order situation, making it clear that former US envoy for Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, did not represent the nation’s foreign policy and was not speaking for the administration of President of Joe Biden.

Vedant Patel, a spokesperson of the State Department, made the statement in response to a query posed during a press briefing on Monday regarding Khalilzad’s recent comments on the volatile political situation in Pakistan.

Khalilzad, who previously served as the special envoy for Afghanistan reconciliation under both the Donald Trump and Biden administrations, had recently made a series of statements asserting that Pakistan was lagging behind arch-rival India and underperforming.

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