Islamabad [Pakistan], May 29 (ANI): Pakistan‘s former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif admitted on Tuesday that Islamabad ‘violated’ an agreement with India in 1999.
Sharif’s disclosure unfolded during a meeting of the PML-N general council, where he assumed the presidency of the ruling party, six years post his disqualification by the country’s Supreme Court.
“On May 28, 1998, Pakistan carried out five nuclear tests. After that Vajpayee Saheb came here and made an agreement with us. But we violated that agreement…it was our fault,” said Sharif.
The agreement mentioned by Sharif was the “Lahore Declaration,” which he and then-Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee signed on February 21, 1999, with the goal of fostering peace and stability between India and Pakistan. However, shortly after the signing, Pakistani troops infiltrated the Kargil district in Jammu and Kashmir, leading to the Kargil War.
During the PML-N general council meeting, Sharif asserted that he conducted nuclear tests despite facing pressure from the United States and subtly criticised former Prime Minister Imran Khan.
“President Bill Clinton had offered Pakistan USD 5 billion to stop it from carrying out nuclear tests but I refused. Had (former prime minister) Imran Khan like a person been on my seat he would have accepted Clinton’s offer,” Sharif said on a day when Pakistan marked the 26th anniversary of its first nuclear tests.
Sharif asserted that former ISI chief Gen Zahirul Islam had a hand in orchestrating the downfall of his government in 2017 to facilitate Imran Khan‘s rise to power.
“I ask Imran not to blame us (of being patronised by the army) and tell whether Gen Islam had talked about bringing the PTI into power,” Sharif said and added Khan would sit at the feet of the military establishment.
Sharif also alleged that the former Chief Justice of Pakistan, Saqib Nisar, ousted him from the Prime Minister’s office in 2017 on a false case. (ANI)
Nawaz Sharif elected unopposed as PML-N president
Islamabad [Pakistan], May 29 (ANI): Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has been elected unopposed as the President of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), as reported by ARY News.
Sharif, who previously lost the presidency of PML-N due to a Supreme Court ruling in the Panama Papers case six years ago, has now reclaimed the position unopposed.
The party’s five-member election commission, chaired by Rana Sanaullah and including Iqbal Jhagra, Ishrat Ashraf, Jamal Shah Kakar, and Khealdas Kohistani, oversaw the election process.
Notably, no candidate submitted nomination papers against Nawaz Sharif, paving the way for his uncontested election, according to ARY News.
During the session, the general council will also address resolutions concerning Kashmir, Palestine, and other pertinent matters.
Initially scheduled for May 11, the party’s general council meeting for the presidential election was later rescheduled to coincide with Youm-e-Takbeer on May 28. This date marks 26 years since Pakistan’s historic nuclear tests on May 28th, 1998.
It’s worth mentioning that Nawaz Sharif was previously disqualified from holding any public position following his conviction in 2018.
Sharif faced convictions in both the Avenfield and Al-Azizia references by the Accountability Court, resulting in a 10-year jail term and an eight-million-pound fine in the Avenfield case, and a seven-year sentence in the Al-Azizia reference, accompanied by a fine of Rs1.5 billion and USD25 million. Additionally, he was disqualified from holding public office for 10 years.
However, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) acquitted him in both the Avenfield and Al-Azizia references on November 29 and December 12 of the previous year, respectively. Following his acquittals, Sharif contested and emerged victorious in the General Elections 2024 from NA-130 Lahore, ARY News reported. (ANI)
