ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday strongly condemned the “vile campaign” against the Pakistan Army and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir abroad and called on overseas Pakistanis to raise their voices against it.

“The campaign against the army chief is intolerable and a continuation of the conspiracy against the institutions,” he said in a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).

He said that “toxic politics” was being spread through overseas Pakistanis.

The premier called on patriotic Pakistanis living abroad to raise their voices against the “foreign-funded campaign” and not become a part of such conspiracies.

In his statement, PM Shehbaz also stated that PTI Chairman and former prime minister Imran Khan was dragging state institutions and their heads into his dirty politics, which was against the Constitution.

He instructed the interior minister that those behind such anti-institution campaigns within the country should be dealt with “iron hands”.

“Strict legal action should be taken against those who instigate chaos, riots and rebellion in Pakistan,” the premier stressed, adding that the nation stood by its institutions and was united against evildoers.

He further said that the campaign against the COAS, who according to the prime minister was the “first army chief to be appointed on merit in Pakistan”, could only be the agenda of the enemies of the country.

Later in a tweet, PM Shehbaz said: “PTI’s disgusting smear campaign against Chief of the Army Staff General Asim Munir at the behest of Imran Niazi is deserving of the strongest condemnation.”

“This man Niazi is stooping to unprecedented lows in his desperation for power & going to the extent of damaging the country & undermining our armed forces & their leadership,” he added.

The PMO statement comes a day after hundreds of Pakistanis Americans gathered outside the White House on Sunday, ignoring freezing cold and biting winds, to demand an end to the government’s actions against Imran.