Daily Times

The jury is still out on whether Prime Minister Imran Khan deliberately named America as the country behind the mysterious threat to his government or if it was just another slip of the tongue. Regardless, the fact that the PM himself implied that whoever sent the threat also backed and bankrolled the no-confidence motion against him, and also that his address appeared shortly after the Islamabad High Court (IHC) cautioned him against divulging too much information, could mean that the PM has bit off more than he or the country can chew. It was, after all, just a regular diplomatic cable from the embassy and foreign policy experts are more or less unanimous in their analysis that the PM has made a mountain out of a molehill.

And since, for all intents and purposes, he has done all this in reaction to the no-confidence motion, the wisdom of employing such an unconventional strategy is being questioned very strongly as well.

Some have also pointed out, very rightly so, that it is not uncommon for countries to express their unhappiness or displeasure over things through relevant embassies. And that even our most steadfast friends, like China and Saudi Arabia, have on occasion relayed messages that weren’t exactly music to Pakistan’s ears.

The unusual focus on this so-called threat is also very surprising because it has nothing at all to do with the no-confidence motion, which is very much a constitutional matter. The charge that this is all foreign-funded and motivated holds no water unless some sort of convincing proof is advanced.

But since no such thing has happened, and there’s just one day left for the vote in parliament, wouldn’t it be best to keep the eye on the ball and not make unnecessary noise; especially since it can cost the country rather dearly in the long run? It’s for a reason that successive governments have thought it wise not to upset Washington too much. We are a debt-dependent country, at the end of the day, and we know only too well what happens to the rates at which we get loans when we’re not on the right side of the US. The PM should rethink his course before unnecessarily spilling any more beans.