‘India not responsible for Pakistan’s economy woes’, says ex-PM Nawaz Sharif, blames army

Neither India nor the US was responsible for Pakistan’s economic downfall, rather “‘we shot ourselves in our own foot”, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif said, indirectly blaming the military establishment for the current situation.

The 73-year-old leader made these remarks on Tuesday (Dec 19) while addressing the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) members in Islamabad, as the party gears up for the upcoming general elections in February 2024.

“Today where Pakistan has reached (in terms of the state of the economy) this is not done by India, the US or even Afghanistan. In fact, we shot ourselves in our own foot…they (a reference to the military) imposed a selected (government) on this nation by rigging the 2018 polls that led to the sufferings of the people and downfall of the economy,” Sharif, the three-time prime minister who is vying to gain power for the fourth time, said.

Add WION as a Preferred Source

Sharif going soft on India?

Since returning to Pakistan in October from four years of self-imposed exile in the UK, Sharif has been making comments that seemingly reflect a softer approach towards India. It comes amidst the election frenzy in the South Asian country which has been traditionally laced with anti-India rhetoric.

The 73-year-old leader even went a step further by criticising the judges for legitimising military dictators.

“The judges garland them (military dictators) and legitimise their rule when they break the Constitution. When it comes to a prime minister the judges stamp his ouster. The judges also approve the act of dissolution of the parliament…why?” he asked.

The PML-N supremo, who was overthrown from power three times in 1993, 1999 and 2017, lashed out at formerISI chief Gen Faiz Hamid for engineering his ouster from power in 2017.

“A case has been opened in the Supreme Court against those (Faiz Hamid and others) who had said that if Nawaz came out of jail their two-year hard work would be wasted,” he said.

Recalls the number of times he was ousted

Recalling the number of times he was ousted as the PM, Nawaz said, “I was prime minister in the morning and in the evening I was declared a hijacker. Similarly in 2017, I was ousted from power for not taking salary from my son.”

“They (military establishment) made this decision as they wanted to bring their selected man into power,” he said, referring to his arch-rival Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) supremo Imran Khan.

Last week, Sharif was acquitted in the Al-Azizia Steel mill corruption case. He has already been acquitted in the Avenfield graft case in which he was convicted in July 2018 and sentenced to ten years in Jail. He also got relief in the Flagship corruption case.