ISLAMABAD (Daily Point) — Shah Mehmood Qureshi prevented the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from sharing a diplomatic cipher with the US chargé d’affaires. This incident occurred after Prime Minister Imran Khan displayed the cipher during a public rally on March 27, 2022.

This was reported by local English newspaper The News. Former US Ambassador Asad Majid and former Additional Secretary Faisal Niaz Tirmizi testified in court, describing the cipher episode as damaging to Pak-US relations and expressing concerns about its impact on future diplomatic reporting. Faisal, now Pakistan’s ambassador to the UAE, recalled receiving a WhatsApp message from the US chargé d’affaires, Angella Aggler, expressing Washington’s displeasure over the politicization of a diplomatic cable by Imran Khan.

Faisal shared Aggler’s message with Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Foreign Secretary Sohail Mahmood, leading to a decision not to share the cipher with the US chargé d’affaires. Faisal later briefed the cabinet and delivered a demarche to the acting US chargé d’affaires, Richard Shelsire, addressing concerns about US interference in Pakistan’s internal affairs.

Asad Majid, in his testimony, revealed that a working lunch with Donald Lu lasted one and a half hours. The discussion, attended by the deputy head of the Pakistani mission, defense attaché, and political counselor, was communicated to Islamabad without explicitly using terms like ‘threat’ or ‘conspiracy.’ Asad emphasized that the leadership in Islamabad drew political conclusions from the communication.

The message, addressed to the foreign secretary, was shared with relevant authorities, including the National Security Council and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Both entities concluded that there was no conspiracy, but the cipher episode had negative implications for Pakistan-US bilateral relations and future diplomatic reporting.