Not focusing on candidates in Pakistan: US

WASHINGTON: The US State Department said on Monday that the United States was committed to ensuring that the next elections in Pakistan would be free and fair, benefiting the Pakistani people.

However, when questioned about the potential exclusion of a prominent leader like Imran Khan due to his imprisonment, the department’s principal deputy spokesperson, Vedant Patel, mentioned they “did not have an assessment on the makeup of candidates or the representation of any specific political party.”

Patel emphasised that such decisions are for the people of Pakistan to determine.