Islamabad, Pakistan – When Richard Grenell, who is close to Donald Trump, the next US president, demanded the release of imprisoned former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan last year. November during the protests In Islamabad, this post went viral.

In another tweet on the same day that has since been deleted, Grenell wrote: “Watch Pakistan. Their Trump-like leader is in prison on false charges, inspired by the American red wave. Stop political persecution around the world!

With both tweets receiving hundreds of thousands of views, on December 16, one day after Trump nominated him as a special presidential envoy, Grenell reiterated his request for Khan’s release. This time, the post had more than 10 million views.

The message gained further momentum when Matt Gaetz, another Republican and former Trump nominee for attorney general, wrote, “Release Imran Khan.”

The posts on X (formerly known as Twitter) were seen as a major boost to Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, which has been calling for their leader’s release since August 2023.

But many commentators said they doubted that this interest in Khan shown by Trump’s allies could translate into real pressure on Pakistan to release the former prime minister. Some have pointed to a profound irony in the attempt by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, the country’s most popular political party, to pressure the United States for help – less than three years after it accused Washington of playing a role in Khan’s ouster.

A complex relationship

Khan’s government was removed from office in April 2022 by a parliamentary vote of no confidence after nearly four years in power.

A. claimed US-led conspiracyin collusion with the powerful Pakistani army, as a reason for his dismissal, and rallied his supporters to protest across the country. The US and Pakistani militaries strongly denied these accusations.

Since then, Khan and his party have faced a wave of crackdowns. Khan has been in prison since August 2023 on dozens of charges and convictions. His party’s symbol – the cricket bat – was banned from participating in Pakistan’s national elections last February, forcing its candidates to run as independents.

Meanwhile, since Khan’s ouster, relations between Pakistan and the United States appear to have improved slightly, as the Biden administration appointed Donald Blum as US ambassador to Pakistan in May 2022, after the position had been vacant since August 2018.

Throughout the crackdown on Khan and the PTI, US officials have largely refrained from commenting, describing the matter as an internal matter for Pakistan. However, influential Pakistani diaspora groups in the United States, the majority of which support Khan and the PTI movement, have conducted widespread campaigns among American politicians to seek relief for Khan.

“The explicit advocacy of the Pakistani diaspora in the United States, especially regarding the release of Imran Khan, adds layers of complexity to this relationship,” Hassan Abbas, a professor at the National Defense University in Washington, D.C., told Al Jazeera.

Their efforts led the US Congress to do so Hold a hearing about the “future of democracy” in Pakistan in March last year, prompted by bipartisan calls for President Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken to scrutinize Pakistan’s controversial 2018 elections. February 2024.

Months later, in October, more than 60 Democratic lawmakers urged Biden to leverage Washington’s influence over Islamabad to secure Khan’s release. Then, a few days before American elections On November 5, Atif Khan, a senior leader of the PTI movement in the United States, met with Trump’s daughter-in-law Lara Trump to discuss concerns about Khan’s imprisonment.

On January 22, two days after the new Trump administration takes office, another congressional hearing is expected to be held on Capitol Hill on the November protests in Islamabad, during which at least 12 PTI workers died. PTI blames the authorities for the casualties.

So far, Islamabad has dismissed the significance of the comments from Trump’s allies. Last month, Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said the country seeks relations based on “mutual respect, mutual interest and non-interference in each other’s internal affairs.”

Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, spokeswoman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said during a press conference: “As for anyone making statements in his personal capacity, we do not wish to comment on that.”

Rana Ehsan Afzal, a spokeswoman for Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, said the government considers statements by individuals like Grenell or Gates to be the opinions of “ordinary American citizens.”

“The government is not responsive to feedback from individual citizens. We look forward to working with the new administration, and there will be no need to issue an official response unless there are unrest at the government level.”

Khan as a knight in shining armor?

Syed Muhammad Ali, a non-resident scholar at the Middle East Institute, described the PTI supporters’ campaign for US support as “a kind of mockery.”

Ali told Al Jazeera: “From pushing the idea of ​​American intervention to overthrow the PTI government, the expatriates supporting the PTI movement are now seeking to court the next American administration to have a stronger role in what is happening in Pakistani politics.”

“But irony aside, this shows that for overseas Pakistanis who live far away from the country, many of them consider Imran Khan to be their knight in shining armor.”

Trump, who criticized Pakistan in his first term for providing “nothing but lies and deception,” later developed a relationship with Khan during the latter’s premiership from 2018 to 2022.

The two first met in Washington in July 2019 and again in Davos in January 2020, with Trump calling Khan his “very good friend.”

By contrast, relations between Khan and Biden have been frosty. Khan has often criticized Biden for never contacting him after assuming the presidency in November 2020.

Former Pakistani ambassador to the United States, Hussain Haqqani, acknowledged the effectiveness of Pakistani expatriates in mobilizing support. “They convinced individuals in both parties to demand Khan’s release,” he told Al Jazeera.

However, Haqqani, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, warned that Pakistan remains a low priority for Trump’s foreign policy.

“It is naive for PTI supporters to think they can find influence with US officials in this way. Except for one or two statements, there is no sign of a broader shift in policy,” Haqqani said.

Ali, who is also a lecturer at Johns Hopkins University, emphasized the disconnect between American domestic policy and foreign policy.

“The Trump administration may adopt a more transactional approach. Pakistan has benefited in the past during Republican regimes, but it is currently not an important player in US plans.

Haqqani noted that American influence often involves sanctions and economic pressure, but Pakistan, no longer a major recipient of aid, offers limited options for influence.

Pakistan used to be the main recipient of US aid after the events of September 11. But in recent years, aid has declined dramatically. “Issues such as Pakistan’s nuclear and missile programmes, its relationship with China, and alleged support for militants are what concern the United States.”

“And Khan is not particularly useful on any of those fronts.”