US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations chairperson condemns Pakistan PM for ill-timed Moscow visit

In a letter addressed to Pakistan Ambassador Asad Majeed Khan on March 16, the Congress members expressed disappointment over Prime Minister Imran Khan's announcement of bilateral trade agreements with Russia despite its invasion of Ukraine while also slamming as well as Pakistan's abstention in a United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) resolution condemning the Russian invasion.

"We are disappointed with your government's decision to abstain from the UN General Assembly's March 2 vote. We are also disappointed that Prime Minister Imran Khan announced bilateral trade agreements with Russia following its invasion of Ukraine," the letter read.

The letter was undersigned by Congress members Ted W. Lieu, Tom Malinowski, Juan Vargas, Brian Fitzpatrick, Kathy Manning and David N Cicilline.

The letter further criticized the ill-timed Moscow visit of Imran Khan saying that the Pakistani move ran counter to the international community's efforts to support Ukraine's territorial integrity and call out Russia as the aggressor.

"The Prime Minister's decision to proceed with his visit to Moscow, at a moment when the world was uniting in support of Ukraine, ran counter to the international community's efforts to reaffirm Ukraine's territorial integrity and call out Russia as the aggressor," the letter read.

Later on March 18, Ambassador Asad met pro-Pakistan Senator Chris Van Hollen to apprise him of Islamabad's perspective on Ukraine's situation and developments in Afghanistan, Pakistani vernacular media reported.

Imran Khan's Moscow visit on the eve of Russia's invasion of Ukraine has been widely condemned in the international community and within Pakistan with some commentators going to the extent of calling the move, 'ill-timed' and 'foolhardy'. Pakistani security experts doubt if Khan had gone to Moscow with any strategy in mind, a media report said. (ANI)