Yesterday I posted this essay about the apparent coup in Pakistan for the crime of doing business with Russia.
When I did some more digging the whole sordid affair becomes clear.

February 24 (Vice): Russia Is Bombing Ukraine While Putin Is Chilling With Pakistan’s Prime Minister

“It is very clear that this visit is at a critical juncture as the Ukraine crisis is sweeping the entire world. So it becomes even more important because it could be seen as taking sides with Russia. The fallout could be serious,” Imtiaz Gul, executive director for the Center for Research and Security Studies, told VICE World News.

March 2 (Independent): Imran Khan strikes huge trade deal with Russia despite international outcry over war

March 11 (Strategist): Pakistan’s fence-sitting on Ukraine is being noticed internationally

Khan’s visit didn’t go unnoticed in Western capitals, particularly in Washington, nor did Pakistan’s failure to condemn the Russian military assault on Ukraine....This ‘neutral’ position on Ukraine aligns with Khan’s statement during his Moscow visit that, ‘What we want to do is not become part of any bloc.’ Upon his return to Pakistan, he stressed in a televised address to the nation that he wanted a ‘free and independent’ foreign policy. This is a theme he has highlighted often, arguing that Pakistan’s long relationship with the US—now frosty—had come at a very high price.

March 27 (Daily Sabah): PM Khan claims foreign-backed coup plotters threaten government

Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan claimed that some people in the country were conspiring to topple his government and that the plot had foreign backing, in a vague reference to the powerful military that once supported him.

“We received a threat in writing and I have the evidence,” Khan said during a speech for party supporters at a rally in the capital.

April 3 (NY Times): No-Confidence Vote Stalls in Pakistan.

Prime Minister Imran Khan dissolved Pakistan’s National Assembly and called for new elections on Sunday, blocking a no-confidence vote that had been widely expected to remove him from office and threatening to plunge the country into a constitutional crisis.

Stunned opposition lawmakers said that they would challenge the move before the country’s Supreme Court, calling it “unprecedented” and a “blatant violation” of Pakistan’s Constitution.

April 5 (NDTV): Imran Khan Paying Price For Being "Disobedient" To US: Russia

“Immediately after the announcement of the working visit of Imran Khan to Moscow on February 23-24 this year, the Americans and their Western associates began to exert rude pressure on the Prime Minister, demanding an ultimatum to cancel the trip," Zakharova said in a commentary on the controversy over Khan's allegation that the US was trying to effect a regime change in Islamabad.

“This is another attempt of shameless interference by the US in the internal affairs of an independent state for its own selfish purposes. The above facts eloquently testify to this,” Zakharova said.

April 5 (International): Russia slams US for ‘shameless interference’ in Pakistan’s internal affairs

Citing Pakistani media, the Russian ministry said that on March 7 this year, in a conversation with the Pakistani ambassador, a high-ranking American official (presumably the same Donald Lu) “sharply condemned the balanced reaction of the Pakistani leadership to the events in Ukraine and made it clear that partnerships with the United States are possible only if Imran Khan is removed from power.”

April 7 (WION): US ‘punishing’ Pakistan PM Imran Khan for Moscow visit, says Russia

Khan claimed that Lu warned the Pakistani envoy to the US, Asad Majeed, that there would be "implications" if the Pakistan prime minister survived the no-trust vote in the National Assembly.
...However, the United States has refuted these “baseless allegations” regarding Washington’s role in the so-called “foreign conspiracy”.

April 8 (Post): Pakistan is playing a dangerous game with Russia

But the decisive blow to Khan’s government came on Saturday, when Pakistan’s all-powerful army chief, General Qamar Bajwa, unequivocally condemned Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, undoing Khan’s cozying up to Russia, and satisfying those in the West who were pressing Islamabad to condemn the invasion...Nevertheless, with an upcoming election Khan has already softened his stance on the US.

April 8 (DW): Pakistan: How the Supreme Court thwarted a 'civilian coup'

April 11 (Bloomberg): Derided by Khan as U.S. Puppet, New Pakistan PM Bets on Centrism
Shehbaz Sharif looks to rebalance foreign policy toward U.S.

To ousted leader Imran Khan, Pakistan’s new prime minister is simply a “slave of America” who conspired with the U.S. to remove his government and reorient the nation’s foreign policy...
Khan rallied supporters across Pakistan Sunday night to protest what he called “U.S.-backed regime change,” and dozens of lawmakers in his party resigned Monday to pressure Sharif.
The discord threatens to complicate Sharif’s talks with the International Monetary Fund to secure $3 billion remaining from a loan program to shore up the nation’s finances. Pakistan’s stocks and rupee soared on Monday on optimism at obtaining the funds, which were held up after Khan cut fuel and electricity prices to help the country’s 230 million people cope with Asia’s second-fastest inflation.
...In his first remarks after taking power on Monday, Shehbaz Sharif said he would hold a public hearing on Khan’s claims that the U.S. sent his government a threatening letter and vowed to resign “if there is any iota of conspiracy.” Shehbaz Sharif pledged good ties with “all-weather friend” China while also seeking better ties with the U.S. and Europe. He made no mention of the IMF as he vowed to turn Pakistan into “a paradise for investment through wonderful policies.”

May 8 (International): US annoyed at oil deal with Russia: Imran Khan

On what he called a foreign conspiracy, Imran Khan said that the US assistant secretary of state had said if the no-confidence motion would be successful, Pakistan would be forgiven otherwise it would have to face consequences. He noted that many American politicians had blamed Pakistan for the US failure in Afghanistan. He said that the US had failed not because of Pakistan, adding the country (Pakistan) had suffered a lot and the tribal belt was devastated.

“Now they again want us to give them air bases. I refused them and they had hatched a conspiracy against my government,” he said...
He said he had a good relationship with former US president Donald Trump, adding “We want to be friends but slavery is unacceptable.”