In an attempt to prove his ties to the Pakistani military just days after attacking its leadership, the ousted former prime minister Nawaz Sharif has claimed that his government had reverse-engineered a US cruise missile to develop the country’s own missile program. country.
Nawaz Sharif’s comments from London, where he is allegedly receiving treatment, came as the Imran Khan government is pushing for his deportation. The move came just days after an oppositional alliance against the government was formed.
Addressing the first major gathering of the Pakistan Democratic Movement via video link late last month, Sharif had severely criticized the military as “a state above state.”
But while speaking to the media in London later, Sharif said he had been very supportive of the country’s armed forces.
He went on to claim that his government reverse-engineered a missile launched at Afghanistan by the United States in orderly strikes against Al Qaeda bases in Afghanistan in 1998.
“One of these missiles landed undamaged in Baluchistan and we used reverse engineering (sic) to develop our own missile program,” Sharif said.
“It was during my tenure as prime minister that Pakistan became a nuclear power, developed the JF-17 aircraft together with China and I can also affirm that half of the missiles that Pakistan has developed were made with my support.”
The former prime minister said he had all the love and respect for both military officers and soldiers. “There are very few people in the military that I have a problem with,” he said.
Speaking of the opposition alliance, Sharif said it is a matter of time before the current government leaves. “If the country stands up, the change will come in a few months,” he said.
He also took the opportunity to attack Khan, whom he called “selected … incompetent … crazy.”
He said Khan did not know how to rule and his government was failing.
Nawaz Sharif said he will hold the people who brought Imran Khan to power to account.
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