Nawaz Sharif Vows to Build 'Good Ties' With India, Says Pak Wants to Resolve Kashmir Issue | Exclusive

Former Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Saturday vowed to establish “good relations” with India and said that Islamabad wants to “resolve the Kashmir issue with grace”. The 73-year-old Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo addressed his first rally at Minar-e-Pakistan in Lahore this evening soon after he returned to the country ending the four years of self-imposed exile in the UK.

“We want an independent and comprehensive foreign policy. We want to deal world with grace and equality. We want to make Pakistan an economic power by establishing friendly relations with neighbouring states. Pakistan can’t be developed by fighting or clashing with others. I believe in development not in revenge,” Sharif said.

“If Pakistan had not separated from East Pakistan (Bangladesh), there would be an economic corridor passing through India. We want to establish better ties with neighbours and the world for the development of Pakistan. For the sake of Pakistan, all political entities and institutions (Army and judiciary) have to follow the constitution in true sprit,” he said.

During the rally, Sharif was seen emotional as he described how he faced the news of his mother and wife’s deaths during his imprisonment. In an almost emotionally choked voice, he said he had lost his mother and wife “to politics” and recalled how he couldn’t pay the final respects to either his mother, father or wife.

His wife died in 2018 at the age of 70 in London while both Sharif and daughter Maryam were serving jail terms in Pakistan in corruption cases.

Earlier in the afternoon, Sharif, who had spent the last four years in London, reached Islamabad from Dubai. After completing legal formalities in connection with his bail, he headed for Lahore, PML-N’s bastion in Punjab province.