Islamabad, April 9: Pakistan National Assembly's Speaker Asad Qaiser on Sunday refused to allow the members to cast their votes in the no-confidence motion despite the passage of several hours, reports said.

The Speaker, according to sources, said that since he shares a 30-year relationship with the Prime Minister, he cannot allow the voting to take place, Geo News reported.

Despite the PTI government's hectic efforts to avoid voting on the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan, the historic session of the National Assembly to decide his fate began on Saturday. Pakistan PM Imran Khan Calls Emergency Session of Cabinet Amid No-Confidence Vote.

Taking the floor, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said when the National Security Committee (NSC) was informed about the details of the "top-secret document", the forum decided to immediately issue a demarche and the second order was to summon a session of the Parliament to probe the matter.

"Before we (the government) leave, I want to bring this to your knowledge that the national security adviser of the United States called our national security adviser and categorically asked us not to proceed with the Russia tour."

"Where in the world does any sovereign state gets direction from other countries and which independent country accepts such directions?" he questioned, as the hall echoed with protests from the Opposition benches.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 09, 2022 07:56 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).