Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz ( PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif, who emerged victorious in Pakistan’s general elections, wants to end the country’s decades-old feud with India and put Pakistan’s meddlesome generals in their place.
Kickstarting Pakistan’s sluggish economy, which is particularly weighed down by crippling energy shortages, is central to Sharif’s entire programme, reports the Guardian.
He hopes to bolster growth partly by boosting the feeble levels of trade with India, which would also help improve relations between two countries that have fought three major wars against each other since 1947.
According to Mehmal Sarfraz, from the South Asian Free Media Association, all parties want peace with India, but only Sharif can deliver because, as a rightwing Punjabi nationalist, his patriotism cannot be questioned. If he was in the PPP, he would have been called a traitor, he added.
Sharif has said he wants to see a peaceful resolution of the Kashmir conflict and has promised to ensure attacks against India are not launched from Pakistan.
Earlier in April, staffers at the politician’s campaign headquarters had said that Sharif, seen as close to Pakistan’s conservative Islamists by many in Delhi, had always been pro-Indian.
After the polls, Sharif said he had worked to lessen tensions with India before his ousting by Musharraf. He said his part would pick up the threads where they had left.
Manmohan Singh, India’s prime minister, spoke to Sharif on Sunday and invited him to visit India at “a mutually convenient time”. (ANI)