Hyderabad, May 18 -- A classified Pakistani diplomatic cable that Imran Khan has long cited as proof that the United States engineered his removal from power has been published in full for the first time.

Cable I-0678, stamped "secret", marked "no circulation" and dated March 7, 2022 - published by US investigative news outlet Drop Site News - documents a luncheon meeting between Pakistan's then ambassador in Washington, Asad Majeed Khan, and Donald Lu, the US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs.

What Lu told the ambassador that afternoon would, within weeks, become the most explosive document in Pakistani political history.

A relationship already under strain

By early 2022, Washington and Islamabad were b...