- Saturday, March 01, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
British prime minister Rishi Sunak has reacted to the arrest of Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan as the south Asian country’s “internal matter”.
Responding to the question of a member in the British parliament, Sunak said the UK has a longstanding and close relationship with Pakistan and they are commonwealth partners. He then said that the arrest of Khan is Pakistan’s internal matter.
“We support peaceful, democratic processes and adherence to the rule of law. We are monitoring the situation carefully,” he added.
British foreign secretary James Cleverly also spoke on the matter alongside his US counterpart Antony Blinken during his visit to the US where he stressed on adherence to the rule of law but added that he was yet to be briefed on the developments in Pakistan. He also said that the UK wants to see a “peaceful democracy” in Pakistan.
Labour leader and former leader of the opposition Jeremy Corbyn tweeted about Khan’s arrest in a corruption case outside the high court in Islamabad on Tuesday (9) and called it a “dark day” for democracy.
The arrest of former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, is a dark day for democracy.
Solidarity with protestors in Pakistan and beyond demanding his immediate release. pic.twitter.com/qXgQGjhfe2
— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) May 10, 2023
Violent protests broke out across Pakistan with Khan’s supporters coming out on the streets and challenging the establishment after the former prime minister got arrested.
A Pakistani court on Wednesday (10) indicted Khan, 70, in the Toshakhana corruption case, marking a fresh trouble for him. Eight people were killed while nearly 2,000 people were arrested amid the violent protests across the country which is also going through a serious economic crisis.
