Geo News report: Donald Lu was the ‘artist’ of removing Imran Khan
Last Updated on January 28, 2025 7:08 am
The term of Donald Lu, the US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, has ended. He passed away quietly. The US State Department’s website confirmed the matter.
His term as Assistant Secretary of State ended on January 17, three days before the inauguration of the new President Donald Trump. During his tenure from 2021 to 2024, this top US diplomat became a well-known name in the politics of South Asian countries, especially Pakistan.
Donald Lu’s name came up in April 2022 after the ouster of the government of former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan.
Since his appointment as the US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs on September 15, 2021, Donald Lu has been leading the bureau overseeing US relations with Pakistan. In addition, Imran Khan himself blamed the US Assistant Secretary of State for removing the then PTI government from power.
In April 2022, Imran Khan was ousted from power in a no-confidence motion led by the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and its political allies. He then accused Lu of removing him.
The controversy over this escalated on 27 March 2022. Imran Khan then claimed in a large public meeting that a secret letter had been sent to the PML-N to remove him. Lu was implicated in this. Imran Khan said that Lu had tried to destabilize his government. Imran cited a conversation between Lu and Pakistan’s then ambassador to the United States, Asad Majeed Khan, as evidence of US interference.
This conversation is known as ‘Cybergate’. It was a diplomatic cable. It became a central part of Khan’s larger rhetoric alleging foreign interference in Pakistani politics. Following Khan’s accusations, PTI supporters began demanding Lu’s resignation in the United States and accused him of plotting to remove the former prime minister. This demand was emphasized at PTI rallies in various US cities. This increased political pressure on the US government.
Although the US government has strongly denied the allegations and called them baseless. At that time, Lu himself denied the claim. He said that the claim was completely false.
Since then, PTI leaders and activists have been demanding Lu’s resignation from the US administration. However, even though Lu’s term finally ended, he was not dismissed.
Donald Lu previously played an important role in protecting US interests in Nepal and Sri Lanka in South Asia. He has served in various important positions in the US government for more than 30 years.
He also served as Deputy Chief of Mission to India between 2010-2013. Later, he served in West Africa to deal with the Ebola crisis. He played an important role in bringing Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe back to power from 2015-19.