WASHINGTON: PTI supporters in the US, disappointed with Washington’s reluctance to take a strong position on Imran Khan’s arrest, now want a congressional delegation to visit the country and share their experience with the Biden administration.

“We have approached members of the House Foreign Affairs Com­mittee, urging them to visit Pakis­tan,” said Atif Khan, a California Democrat and the PTI chairman’s adviser for overseas Pakistanis.

Since former prime minister Imran Khan’s ouster in April 2022, the Biden administration has been consistently refusing to comment on the political situation in Pakistan, calling it an internal matter.

In his latest statement on Pakistan, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller acknowledged that Washington has expressed its opinion on some cases around the world, but it would not do so on Imran Khan’s Aug 5 conviction and subsequent arrest. “At times there are cases … that are so obviously unfounded that the United States believes it should say something about the matter. We have not made that determination here,” he said.

The statement dampened the spirits of PTI supporters in the United States, who have been trying hard to persuade Washington to influence Islamabad to set Mr Khan free.

“Yes, this seems to be the administration’s policy now, but it will change,” said Atif Khan while commenting on Mr Miller’s statement. “And a congressional delegation, if it visits Pakistan, can play a key role in bringing that change.”

Tahir Javed, another influential Pakistani from Texas, does not see the Biden administration changing its position anytime soon.

Mr Javed, who attended a Whi­te House reception on Mon­day afternoon, said he did not see “much interest” in the current political situation in Pakistan among the White House guests or his hosts.

“They are waiting for this storm to blow over before they take a public position on this,” he said.

But Michael Kugelman, a US scholar of South Asian affairs, believes Imran Khan will remain relevant. “After IK’s arrest, PTI still has a political future, as it showed with its Peshawar by-election victory on Monday,” he wrote in a tweet.

“And there can still be a political future for IK, even if jail time and disqualification take him out of the picture for a while. Politics are all about the long game.”

Mr Kugelman noted that in the past, parties and leaders have been cut down to size, their leaders have been imprisoned, and that hasn’t stopped some from returning.

“Ultimately, it comes down to how far, and for how long, the military chooses to go in its efforts to curb Khan and PTI,” he wrote. “Another key factor is whether what’s left of the party’s leadership, beyond Khan, is willing to try to reconcile with the military.”

Published in Dawn, August 9th, 2023