Pakistan’s former Prime Minister and head of the PML-N, Nawaz Sharif admitted on May 28, 2024 that the country violated the 1999 Lahore Declaration with India, which was signed by him and then Indian PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Indirectly referring to the Kargil misadventure by Pakistan Army Chief General Parvez Musharraf, he said, was our fault.
“On May 28 1988, Pakistan carried out five nuclear tests After that Vajpayee Saheb came here and made an agreement with us. But we violated that agreement, and it was our fault,” Sharif told a meeting of his party, the PML-N (Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz).
The Lahore Declaration, peace agreement between two warring neighbours signed on February 21, 1999 calling for peace and security and promoting people to people contact among other steps, However, after few months, Pakistan violated the treaty and went to war with India (Kargil War 1999).
Starting in 1999, the Musharraf the four-star general of the Pakistan Army ordered the secret infiltration of the forces into the Kargil District of Ladakh. A full-scale war between New Delhi and Islamabad erupted and, in this conflict, India emerged victorious. A portion of Nawaz Sharif Speech aired by the state-owned Pakistan Television Corporation (PTV) has gone viral in social media platforms.
As Pakistan marked the 26th anniversary of its first nuclear test today, Sharif said, “President Bill Clinton had offered Pakistan USD five billion to stop it from carrying out nuclear tests, but I refused. Had I have been like PM Imran Khan Niazi, the person been on my seat would have gladly accepted the offer.
Sharif also stated that the case against him which led to his removal from the office of the PM in 2017, was false and alleged that it was orchestrated by Pakistan spy agency Inter Service Intelligence (ISI) to bring the now jailed PM Imran Kahan to power.
“I ask Imran not to blame us of being patronised by the army and tell whether the ISI chief General Zahirul Islam had talked about bringing the PTI (Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf) into power,” he said while addressing the general council meeting. He also added and mentioned message recived from the ISI Chief to resign from the PM office in 2014 and said “When I refused, he threatened to make an example of me.” On May 28, 2024, the Sharif was re-elected unopposed as the President of the ruling PML-N ruling in the Panama Papers case.
