Nawaz Sharif admitted Pakistan's fault for violating the Lahore Declaration with India
Indirectly pointing to the Kargil conflict initiated by General Pervez Musharraf (the then Pakistani Army chief), Sharif said, "It was our fault".
The former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif admitted on Tuesday, that Pakistan violated the 1999 Lahore Declaration which was signed between him and Atal Bihari Vajpayee (then Prime Minister of India). Indirectly pointing to the Kargil conflict initiated by General Pervez Musharraf (the then Pakistani Army chief), Sharif said, “It was our fault”.
“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,” He admitted all these during the general meeting of his party, Pakistan Muslim League (N), where he was elected as the President of the ruling party, six years after being disqualified by the Apex court.
The agreement that was signed between both the neighbouring countries on 21 February 1999, was aimed at maintaining peace and security between the nations but soon after a few months, Pakistan’s incursion in the Kargil district of Jammu & Kashmir led to the Kargil war.
Sharif also claimed that he rejected a $5 billion proposal by Former US President Bill Clinton, for halting its nuclear tests. “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,” said Sharif.
He also alleged that the case that led to his removal from the office of Prime Minister in 2017 was baseless and claimed that it was planned by Pakistan’s spy agency and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), to facilitate the the now-imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan into power.
“I ask Imran not to blame us [of being patronised by the army] and tell whether [former ISI chief] Gen Zahirul Islam had talked about bringing the PTI [Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf ] into power,” Sharif said while addressing the meeting.
During his speech, he also highlighted the message he received from the ISI chief threatening him to resign in 2014. “When I refused, he threatened to make an example of me,” said Sharif.
You might also be interested in – No result even after vote count: Nawaz Sharif and Imran Khan both declare victory in elections
