Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif admitted on Tuesday that Islamabad had “violated” an agreement with India in 1999. This disclosure was made during a PML-N general council meeting, where Sharif took on the presidency of the ruling party, six years after his disqualification by the country’s Supreme Court.
Sharif stated, “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.” The agreement he referred to was the “Lahore Declaration,” signed on February 21, 1999, by Sharif and then-Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, aimed at 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 meeting, Sharif mentioned that he conducted the nuclear tests despite facing pressure from the United States and subtly criticized former Prime Minister Imran Khan. He said, “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,” on the day Pakistan marked the 26th anniversary of its first nuclear tests.
Sharif also asserted that former ISI chief Gen Zahirul Islam played a role in orchestrating the downfall of his government in 2017 to facilitate Imran Khan’s rise to power. He challenged Imran Khan, saying, “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,” and added that Khan “would sit at the feet of the military establishment.”
Additionally, Sharif accused former Chief Justice of Pakistan, Saqib Nisar, of ousting him from the Prime Minister’s office in 2017 based on a false case.