Facing criticism over offering a red carpet welcome to the US Ambassador, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government on Monday clarified that the envoy was welcomed as he was on an official visit to the province and it had nothing to do with the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, which held the Biden administration responsible for toppling the Imran Khan government.
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) government was criticised by Opposition parties and social media users after the provincial Chief Minister Mahmood Khan accorded a red carpet welcome to the US envoy Donald Blome last week.
KPK government spokesman Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif said the US Ambassador had come on an official visit which has no link with the politics of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party.
He agreed his party had blamed US President Joe Biden's administration for toppling the PTI government through a conspiracy in April this year, but said the US ambassador did not pay a visit to any party office.
He said that the same protocol and reception would be given to the Indian Ambassador to Pakistan if tomorrow he visits the province.
KPK Chief Minister Khan welcomed the US ambassador on his first visit to the provincial metropolis last week and thanked the US government for offering assistance in running various welfare projects in the province.
The US Ambassador handed over 36 latest medically equipped vehicles to Health Minister KPK Tamiur Saleem Jhaghra. He also visited the Pak-Afghan Torkham border on his visit to KPK.
PTI chairman and former prime minister Khan, who was unceremoniously removed from office on April 9 through a no-confidence vote, had directly blamed the Biden administration for toppling his government through a conspiracy. The cricketer-turned-politician alleged that his political opponents colluded with the US to change the regime in Pakistan.