Imran Khan: US-backed attempts to change regime in Islamabad

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Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has described the move to topple him as an "attempt to change the regime by support from the United States," as he faces a vote to oust him on Sunday.

"The move to oust me is [a] blatant interference in domestic politics by the United States," Khan said in a statement to a group of foreign journalists on Saturday.

Pakistan's PM stated on Friday that his government gave an official note to the United States' embassy in Islamabad to protest Washington's interference in the country's affairs. 

"We now have given a demarche to (the) American embassy," Khan told ARY, a local TV channel, in an interview, referring to the note he sent to the mission against the background of foreign interference to oust Khan from power. 

In a speech, Khan had said he refused to resign and that there is a foreign conspiracy against Islamabad, shining at a "threat letter" from the US because he refused to establish US military bases in Pakistan. 

The PM considers that a foreign-funded conspiracy supports his toppling after he had visited Moscow last February, where he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin, in conjunction with the start of the Russian special operation in Ukraine.

However, the White House denied Washington's attempt to remove Khan from power.

Meanwhile, Pakistani Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa told a security conference in Islamabad on Saturday that his country is seeking to expand its relations with Washington, adding, "We share a long history of excellent and strategic relations with the United States, which remains our largest export market."

Bajwa touched on the close diplomatic and trade relations with China, Pakistan's old ally, and stressed, their aim to expand their relations with both countries.

While Bajwa expressed Pakistan's concern about the war in Ukraine, he stressed at the same time that his country "also enjoys long-term relations with Russia, and pointed out that, despite Russia's legitimate concerns, "its military operation cannot be accepted."