Ahead of Pakistan elections, Nawaz Sharif praises India's Chandrayaan-3 and G20 Summit

Islamabad: A day after he said that India and the USA were not responsible for Pakistan's economic downfall, former Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif has yet again come to praise India. During a public address in Pakistan, Sharif said that India had reached the moon while his country had not yet risen from the ground. The three-time PM of Pakistan was referring to India’s lunar mission, Chandrayaan-3.

A few months ago, Sharif had praised India’s mission to the moon. And now, the ex-PM of Pakistan has again highlighted the capability of India’s space programme while his country is in the doldrums socio-economically. He has talked about India’s economic progress and also the G20 summit held in 2023.

Nawaz Sharif all praise for India

"We have been responsible for our own downfall, otherwise this nation would have reached a different place," said Sharif yesterday. "Our neighbours (India) have reached the moon but we haven't even risen from the ground so far. It can't keep going on like this," he emphasised.

As party chief of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Sharif was addressing his party, when he taunted the military that India or USA were not responsible for Pakistan’s troubling state.

“Today, where Pakistan has reached (economically), this is not done by India, the US or even Afghanistan. In fact, we shot ourselves in our own foot…they (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,” claimed Sharif.

He further added, "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 couldn't Pakistan achieve the feats India did? Who is responsible for this here?"

Nawaz Sharif to contest Pak elections in 2024, aim for fourth term as PM

Notably, Nawaz Sharif has made his pro-India stance clear ahead of the Pakistan elections in 2024. The general elections in Pakistan are scheduled to be held on February 8, 2024, after being postponed several times.

After being acquitted in the two main cases against him - the Al-Azizia Steel Mill corruption case and the Avenfield property case - former head of state Nawaz Sharif will be vying for the position of prime minister of Pakistan for the fourth time. Sharif has served as Pakistan PM for three terms, from 1990-93, 1997-98 and 2013-17.

Nawaz Sharif would be contesting elections from the Mansehra region of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, revealed his son-in-law Captain (retd.) Muhammad Safdar on Wednesday, December 20.

Safdar is married to Sharif's daughter Maryam Nawaz. He told the media that Sharif would be submitting his nomination papers for the National Assembly seat "NA 15 Mansehra-cum-Torghar constituency" by Thursday, December 21. 

Sharif has been in London since 2019 and at 73, is aiming for a big comeback in Pakistan politics. In November 2022, Sharif was issued a five-year diplomatic passport by the Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

However, as per reports, Nawaz Sharif remains disqualified for life from holding office by the Supreme Court in the Panama Papers case.