AMN / Web Desk
Ex-prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Monday claimed that the then chief of army staff (COAS) General (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa asked him to decry the Russian invasion of Ukraine soon after his return from Moscow.
Giving details about his talks with the ex-army chief, the ousted PM said: “I talked to Russian President Vladimir Putin about procurement of oil at cheaper rates but when I returned to Pakistan, then chief of army staff asked me to condemn Russia’s attack on Ukraine.”
The PTI chairman made these remarks during an interview with the Voice of America English aired on Saturday and a separate televised address on Sunday. On both occasions, the former premier took swipes at the ex-chief of army staff, who, according to Imran Khan, was the source of all the crises plaguing Pakistan today.
In an address, Khan — who was removed from power via no-confidence in April last year — said when he advised Bajwa to stay “neutral” like India in the matter but the ex-army chief himself started condemning Russia.
“A grade-22 officer made a foreign policy statement during a seminar to please the US,” the deposed prime minister said. He went on to say that the country would have to face the consequences when decisions were made to please Washington.