New Delhi: Contradicting the claims of ousted Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan that there was a “conspiracy” behind the toppling of his government, the Pakistani military has clarified that the statement issued after the meeting of the National Security Commission (NSC) last month did not include the word “conspiracy”.“As far as the military response about the NSC meeting is considered, that stance, in that meeting was fully given, and then a statement was issued…which clearly says what was concluded in that meeting. The words used are in front of you…as I said…the words used are clear. Is there any word such as conspiracy used in it? I think not,” Dawn quoted Major General Babar Iftikhar, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) director general, as saying.Major General Iftikhar, from the media wing of the Pakistan Army, was answering a question posed by a journalist after a press conference on the recently held formation commanders conference at the General Headquarters.The journalist in question had asked the army leadership’s response to Imran Khan’s claim of a “foreign conspiracy” to dislodge him, and whether the NSC had endorsed such a claim.Pakistan deputy speaker Qasim Suri too cited the “NSC statement” among others to controversially block a no-confidence motion brought by the opposition against Khan initially. To buttress his claim, Suri had ruled that “circumstances show that there is a nexus between the no-confidence motion, foreign intervention and the activities of the state’s representatives deputed to Pakistan”. He had also said “foreign state was interfering in the internal affairs of Pakistan and Prime Minister Imran Khan was its primary target”.Also read: At Massive Rally, Pak PM Imran Khan Claims Foreign Powers Behind Conspiracy to Overthrow His GovtAfter a prolonged political turmoil, Shehbaz Sharif was sworn-in as the new Prime Minister of Pakistan on Monday, April 11. Imran Khan had lost a no-confidence vote.On the other hand, he also asserted that Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa was not seeking an extension and would neither accept one.“No matter what, he will be retiring on November 29, 2022,” the spokesman said, adding that General Bajwa was “unwell” on the day Sharif took office and had to skip the oath-taking ceremony.Apparently ruffled by a vicious social media campaign against it, the Pakistan Army on Thursday said that it had “nothing to do with politics” and would remain “apolitical”.He said that Pakistan’s survival solely relied on democracy, and its strength lay in the institutions, be it parliament, Supreme Court or the armed forces.He also rubbished the rumors about the threat of martial law at the height of the recent political turmoil. “There will never be martial law in Pakistan.”To a question about the opening of courts in the middle of the night when the battle for the no-confidence vote was going on, he said that it was a decision by the courts and the army had nothing to do with it.He also vehemently rejected the media reports about the visit of the army chief and the ISI chief to the PM House ahead of his decision to leave the official residence. “Totally untrue. Nobody went there. In the entire process, there was no interference by the army. Let me put this thing to rest,” he stated.Major General Iftikhar said that there was no truth about the army chief having meetings with the opposition leaders in Pakistan or outside Pakistan in the days leading up to the no-confidence vote.He said that then prime minister Khan had approached the army chief to help find a solution to the political crisis.“It is unfortunate that our political leadership was not ready to talk. So the army chief and DG ISI went to the PMO and three scenarios were discussed,” he said, recalling that one was that the no-confidence motion should be held as it was.The other were that the prime minister resigns or the no-confidence motion was retracted and the assemblies were dissolved.“No option from the establishment was given,” Iftikhar said.Khan had claimed that the “establishment” had given him three options: “resignation, no-confidence (vote) or elections” after the Opposition filed a no-trust motion against him in parliament.The powerful Army, which has ruled the coup-prone country for more than half of its 73-plus years of existence, has hitherto wielded considerable power in the matters of security and foreign policy.Khan, who was ousted from power early this week, had apparently also lost the support of the powerful Army after he refused to endorse the appointment of the ISI spy agency chief last year. Finally, he agreed, but it soured his ties with the powerful Army.In response to a question, the spokesman said that the army was on board with the visit of then Prime Minister Khan to Russia. But termed it “embarrassing” when Russia launched an attack on Ukraine when Khan was in Moscow.The spokesman said that the United States had not asked Pakistan to provide army bases after withdrawing from Afghanistan. “But if the US had asked for the bases, the army’s response would have been the same as that of PM Khan,” he said.Maj Gen Iftikhar said that the government of the day was responsible to take action if somebody targeted the Army.To a question about relations between former premier Khan and COAS Bajwa, Maj Gen Iftikhar said that the army chief had a “relation of mutual respect with him”.He also said that protest rallies by Imran Khan were a part of the political process and there was nothing wrong with them.Maj Gen Iftikhar also said that the word “conspiracy” was not used in the statement issued after a meeting of the National Security Committee last month. He said that the minutes of the NSC meeting could be declassified if the government decided.About the threatening letter and the protest launched later on, he said the protest can be launched for various reasons. This demarche was issued because there was a statement about interference and undiplomatic language.Talking about India, he alleged that there was always a “danger of a false flag operation” as it was a “habit of India”, but they were keeping eye open and there was no unusual activity on the eastern border.He urged the people to avoid using negative language against the armed forces.To a question about an attack on an army soldier by the workers of some political party in Lahore, he said that the attackers were arrested and would be prosecuted according to the law.(With PTI inputs)