Pakistan begging for funds while India has reached Moon: Nawaz Sharif

A report by PTI quoted Sharif as saying: “Today Pakistan’s prime minister goes country to country to beg for funds while India has reached the moon and is holding G20 meetings. Why Pakistan couldn’t achieve the feats India did. Who is responsible for this here?” 

Sharif made the remarks while addressing a party meeting in Lahore from London via video link on Monday evening.

India had followed the economic reforms which in Pakistan were initiated by his government in 1990, said the 73-year-old leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party, as per the report.

“When Atal Bihari Vajpayee became the prime minister of India, it had only a billion dollars in kitty but now India’s foreign exchange reserves have risen up to $600 billion,” Sharif said.

In July, the cash-strapped Pakistan received $1.2 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as part of the $3 billion bailout package for nine months to support the government’s efforts to stabilise the country’s ailing economy. 

Ending his over four years of self-imposed exile in the UK, Sharif has announced his return to Pakistan on October 21 to lead PML-N’s campaign for the upcoming general elections. 

In November 2019, Sharif was helped by the then army chief Gen Bajwa to leave the country on medical grounds. He is serving a seven-year jail term in AlAzizia Mills corruption case.

His party PML-N has said that it will secure a protective bail for him before his arrival to Lahore next month.

“The man (Nawaz) who rid the country of power load shedding was sent home by four judges,” Sharif said in his speech.

“(Former) chief justices Saqib Nisar and Asif Saeed Khosa were tools of [the former army chief and his spy chief]. Their crime is bigger than a murder offence. Giving them pardons will be an injustice to the nation. They don’t deserve pardon,” he also said.

(With inputs from PTI)

Updated: 19 Sep 2023, 07:20 PM IST