Imran detention played up for political reasons: Hoagland

Imran Khan’s recent detention in Toronto by US authorities was used for political mileage by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief, said the US Deputy Chief of Mission Richard Hoagland in a talk with a select group of journalists on Thursday. Hoagland said, “A lot of the story that went out was not very accurate, but played up for political purposes.” He added that in principle nobody is ever stopped from entering the United States for their political beliefs. Furthermore, Hoagland said counter-terrorism was most important in US-Pak relations. “The sooner we contain terrorists the more peaceful the methods (of counter-terrorism) will become,” Hoagland said. “The Strategic Pause” an interim period of a difficult relationship between both the countries was now paving way for a “more mature but restrained relationship” based on diplomatic, military and intelligence sharing, said the US diplomat. Elections in the US The US diplomat added that no matter who won the US presidential elections, there would be “no pendulum swing in foreign policy.”