Imran Khan’s fall and the “cipher”

Background

Relations between the Khan government and the Biden administration were cool. On 24 February 2022, the day Russia invaded Ukraine, Khan was in Moscow meeting President Vladimir Putin, a visit the United States had objected to³.

What happened

As opposition parties moved a no-confidence motion against him in March 2022, Khan told supporters that a foreign power wanted him removed, and later named the United States. He cited a diplomatic cable - the "cipher" - in which Pakistan's ambassador in Washington, Asad Majeed, had reported a conversation with Donald Lu, the Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia^1,2. Khan was ousted on 9 April 2022 and replaced by Shehbaz Sharif¹.

The State Department said the allegations that the United States had interfered in Pakistan's internal decisions about its leadership were false, and had always been false³. In August 2023 The Intercept published what it said was the text of the cable, which recorded US displeasure at Khan's stance on the Ukraine war^3,4. Testifying to Congress in March 2024, Lu said the cable did not accuse the United States or him of acting against Khan². Pakistani authorities later prosecuted Khan for mishandling the classified cable; that conviction was overturned on appeal in 2024.

Why it mattered

The conspiracy narrative resonated with long-standing Pakistani suspicion of American intentions and became a central theme of Khan's movement, making the United States an issue in Pakistan's domestic politics as rarely before. It complicated Washington's dealings with successive Pakistani governments and fuelled scrutiny in Congress of Pakistan's 2024 elections and Khan's imprisonment.

Legacy

The episode is still contested in Pakistan. US officials consistently deny any role; Khan's supporters regard the cable as evidence of pressure. Both governments, meanwhile, continued to rebuild official ties.