US Highlights Irregularities In Pakistan’s February 8 Elections

The US has highlighted irregularities in the February 8 general elections in Pakistan and expressed the US commitment to strengthening the cash-strapped country's democratic institutions and cooperating to counter terrorist threats.

Assistant Secretary of State Donald Lu, the diplomat whose supposed warning to former Pakistan Ambassador to the US Asad Majeed was the subject of a cipher (secret diplomatic message) sent by the envoy to Islamabad, will on Wednesday be a key witness before a Congressional panel that has called a hearing titled 'Pakistan After the Elections: Examining the Future of Democracy in Pakistan and the US-Pakistan Relationship'.

The same diplomatic communication was later used by jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan to allege a US conspiracy to oust his government in 2022.