Pak’s nukes make its defence ‘invincible’, says Sharif from jail

As Pakistan Tuesday marked the 21st anniversary of its atomic tests, jailed former prime minister Nawaz Sharif said that his decision to make the country a nuclear power has made its defence “invincible.”

On May 28, 1998 Pakistan carried out five nuclear tests atChaghi in Balochistan province during Sharif’s tenure as prime minister. Theday is since observed as Youm-e-Takbeer in Pakistan.

   

Pakistan’s nuclear tests came days after India successfullycarried out the atomic tests in Pokhran on May 11.

“May 28 is an unforgettable day in the history ofPakistan. On this day, the defence of the country was made invincible whenPakistan emerged on the world map as a nuclear power,” 69-year-old Sharif,supremo of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), said in a message which wasshared on his party’s Twitter handle.

“Youm-e-Takbeer is a day of nation’s honour. A sign ofnation’s unprecedented bravery, it also gives a message to the country’senemies that there would be dire consequences in case of any misadventure againstPakistan,” he said in the message from the Kot Lakhpat jail where he iscurrently undergoing a seven-year-sentence in a corruption case.

Sharif said his government was threatened with economicsanctions in case of the atomic tests. He also said that Pakistan was offeredbillions of dollars for not conducting the tests. “But I accepted all thechallenges and went ahead with the tests,” he said.

The PML-N chief claimed that external forces hatchedconspiracies against him for making the country an economic power for hisapproval of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor due to which he was beingpunished – first forced to go on exile and later sentenced to jail.

“In the solitary confinement, I assure the nation thatI will never compromise on the constitutional rights of the people, people’sright to vote and country’s security and sovereignty,” he said.Sharif has been serving a seven-year prison termat the jail since December 24, 2018 when an accountability court convicted himin one of the three corruption cases filed in the wake of the apex court’s July28, 2017 order in Panama Papers case. Sharif and his family have denied anywrongdoing and allege that the corruption cases against them were politicallymotivated.

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