Former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday, May 28, admitted that Islamabad violated the agreement signed by him and former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee with India in 1999. He said this in reference to the attack carried out by General Pervez Musharraf in Kargil, reported news agency PTI.
Addressing the party's general council after being elected as the president of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Sharif said, "On May 28, 1998, Pakistan conducted five nuclear tests. After that Vajpayee sahab came here and signed an agreement with us. But we violated that agreement. It was our mistake."
What Was The Lahore Agreement?
Nawaz Sharif was referring to the 1999 Lahore Agreement. Sharif and former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee signed the Lahore Agreement on February 21, 1999. This agreement, which talked about a vision of peace and stability between the two countries, marked a major breakthrough in bilateral ties. However, a few months later, the Kargil War started due to a Pakistani infiltration bid in Kargil, Jammu & Kashmir.
Nawaz Sharif On Pakistan's Nuclear Programme
While celebrating the 26th anniversary of Pakistan's first nuclear test, Nawaz Sharif said, "US President Bill Clinton offered Pakistan 5 billion USD to stop Pakistan from conducting nuclear tests, but I refused. If a person like [former Pakistan Prime Minister] Imran Khan were in my seat, he would have accepted Clinton's offer."
Nawaz Sharif Elected PML-N President After 6 Years
Sharif, who was elected the president of the PML-N six years after his disqualification by the Supreme Court of Pakistan, further said that he was removed as the Prime Minister of Pakistan in 2017 over a false case filed by the erstwhile chief justice of the nation, Saqib Nisar. He said he would now work to strengthen the party.
Sharif also spoke about how former ISI chief Gen Zahirul Islam brought down his government in 2017 and installed Imran Khan on the PM's chair so that he would grovel at the "military's feet". "I challenge Imran Khan to deny the fact that he was not propelled to power by the ISI. I urge Imran not to accuse us [of being patronised by the Army] and disclose whether Gen Islam talked about bringing the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf to power," Sharif said.
The three-time Pakistani PM said that he was removed from his post after he refused to accept Gen Islam's message to resign in 2014. "When I refused, he threatened to make an example of me," he was quoted as saying in the PTI report. Sharif also praised his younger brother and incumbent Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for standing by his side through thick and thin.
"Efforts were made to create differences between us but Shehbaz remained loyal to me. Even Shehbaz was asked to become PM in the past and abandon me, but he declined," Sharif said, according to news agency PTI.