Pakistan's powerful army said on Sunday that it has "absolutely nothing" to do with the prevailing political situation in the country.

Military spokesman Maj Gen Babar Iftikhar made the remarks while speaking to a private TV channel in the wake of rejection of a no-confidence motion and subsequent dissolution of the National Assembly (NA) by President Arif Alvi on advice of Prime Minister Imran Khan.

"The army has absolutely nothing to do with what happened in the NA today," Iftikhar said. The powerful Pakistan Army, which has ruled the coup-prone country for more than half of its 73 plus years of existence, has hitherto wielded considerable power in the matters of security and foreign policy. Pakistan Army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa has at least twice met Prime Minister Khan last week.

Earlier on Sunday, Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri dismissed the no-confidence motion submitted by the joint opposition to dislodge the prime minister as he termed it "unconstitutional" under Article 5.

Based on the recommendation of Khan, Pakistan President Arif Alvi dissolved the National Assembly, minutes after the former advised him to call for fresh elections.

Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Farrukh Habib said that President Alvi has dissolved the National Assembly as per the advice of the prime minister. He said the election will be held within 90 days. Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said that the Cabinet has been dissolved.

The current instability was triggered by the no-confidence motion by the Opposition on March 8 but Prime Minister Khan fought back by declaring it a foreign conspiracy to topple his elected government.

According to Prime Minister Khan, the top army leadership met him last week and offered three options to resolve the political impasse, which included his resignation, facing no-confidence or calling early elections.

Addressing the nation soon after the no-confidence motion was rejected, Khan said, "I congratulate every Pakistani on the Deputy Speaker’s decision. The no-confidence motion was a foreign conspiracy against us. Pakistan should decide who should govern them," he added.

The Opposition vowed to fight the block, made by Suri of Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), added Reuters. In fact, they have decided to challenge the decision in the Supreme Court.

"We will stage a sit-in at the National Assembly (parliament). We are also moving to the Supreme Court today," Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, head of the opposition Pakistan People's Party (PPP), told reporters.

PTI