Daily Times

Chairman PTI Imran Khan said on Monday that General (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa asked him to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine soon after his return from Moscow.

Giving details about his talks with the ex-army chief, the ousted premier 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.”

In an address to intellectuals through a video link, 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, 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.

In a bid to plea the United States, 80,000 people got killed in the war on terror, he added.

Turning his guns towards the coalition government and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), the PTI leader said that as per the Constitution, the polls must be held within 90 days after the dissolution of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assemblies but “these people are making new excuses”.

It is worth noting that Khan announced earlier today that if elections are not held within 90 days, he will begin a Save the Constitution campaign [Aain Bachao Tehreek].