Nawaz-Modi secret meeting held in Nepal: Shahbaz Gill

LAHORE: The Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) on Political Communication, Shahbaz Gill, alleged on Saturday that former premier Nawaz Sharif held a secret meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Kathmandu [Nepal] while keeping the Foreign Office away from it. 

Addressing a press conference here on Saturday, he said he did not say that Nawaz Sharif was anti-Pakistan; but he was a narrow-minded businessman. “Can a Pakistani trader meet Indian PM Modi in India? But Nawaz Sharif held a secret meeting with Modi in Kathmandu,” he claimed.

Gill said the government was also aware of Nawaz Sharif’s recent meetings inside the embassy of a country in London. Gill pointed out that when the Pathan Kot incident occurred, then India’s [Sajjan] Jindal and Nawaz Sharif gave similar statements. Where was the narrative of Pakistan’s prime minister, asked PM’s advisor. To another question, Shahbaz Gill said that Nawaz Sharif and his family had personal business relations with the Indians and they also benefitted from these contacts, adding that why the Sharifs had not taken Pakistan Awami Tehreek leader Allama Tahir ul Qadri to the court when he exposed their Indian connections.

Nawaz Sharif should tell [the nation] why he did not give access to the [Foreign Office] officials during his meeting with Narendra Modi [as the prime minister of Pakistan], he questioned. Nawaz Sharif sent a message of goodwill to Modi by wearing a red turban, he said adding that Modi tweeted he was too much impressed on his reception by Nawaz Sharif at Lahore airport. “How can be Modi invited to one’s home,” Gill asked. He added that when a question is put to him why he is sharing business with the enemy, he becomes upset.

The special assistant pointed out that Nawaz Sharif had refused to meet the Hurriyat leaders in India. India was hell-bent upon causing damage to Pakistan. Intelligence agencies foiled Indian attempts to foment sectarian violence in Pakistan. It is beyond any doubt that India was making all attempts to divide Pakistan. India is active on borders against Pakistan, he added. Gill pointed out that Indian strategic experts are encouraging attacks against the Pakistan Army as that would cause Pakistan to disintegrate. “Because Pakistan will weaken if its army grows weak,” he added. Indian defence analysts are advocating making Pakistan Army controversial.

He said Nawaz Sharif had a problem with the Army back in 1993. Before it, he had problems with Ghulam Ishaq Khan. The SAPM said “we have no political threat from Nawaz Sharif. I heard the speeches of PML-N Quaid in recent days. “It was my stance that Nawaz Sharif should not be allowed to deliver speeches. The anti-Pakistan elements would use Nawaz Sharif’s statement for their nefarious designs, Gill claimed. “The impact of his speech will appear after 10 months,” added Gill.

He claimed that N-League had become the ‘Conspiracy League’ and was speaking against the institutions. He held that the only issue Nawaz Sharif had with the army was that this is the only institution that asks Nawaz about his theft. When questions are asked from him, he feels he is in trouble. Gill said that Nawaz Sharif’s disagreements started with Lieut Gen Asim Saleem Bajwa owing to Kulbhushan Jadhav’s arrest. Nawaz Sharif and his coterie had no courage to admit to the arrest of Indian spy Kulbhushan Yadav. Even Kulbhushan’s name was never uttered by Nawaz, Gill said.

The SAPM pointed out that Nawaz Sharif government had restrained the then FO spokesperson Tasnim Aslam from speaking against India. Modi himself had said Nawaz wanted to meet him but Pakistan Army did not allow him to. He said the PML-N leader must be held accountable for his meetings with Sajjan Jindal and the other Indians in Pakistan ‘without visa’. He said the Pak Army is the guarantor of peace in our country. “Our army does not stop us from doing any [administrative or political] thing. We, along with the army, achieved success against Coronavirus,” he added.

About Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) restrictions, the SAPM said it was due to the writ petition of a citizen that PEMRA, not the government, stopped television channels from airing Nawaz Sharif’s speech. The ‘Patriotic Pakistanis will take care of Nawaz Shairf’s anti-Pakistan rhetoric themselves as they had done with Altaf Hussain,” he added.

He indicated that Nawaz Sharif fled the country on the affidavit of Shahbaz Sharif. Shahbaz Sharif in his own handwriting took the undertaking that Nawaz would return to Pakistan within 4 weeks. Maryam Nawaz has now relegated Shahbaz Sharif to a lower position with her iron hands, he added. He remarked that Nawaz should have become an actor and would have earned a lot of money out of it. Referring to the PML-N claim of nuclear detonations, he questioned who conducted the nuclear tests. Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan has exposed him.

He said more than eight legislators from the PML-N have approached the government saying they could not join the PTI due to constitutional complications. But they have reservations over Nawaz Sharif speeches. “We cannot go to our constituencies because the electorates ask questions from us,” they added. “The PML-N MPAs come to us and get the problems of their constituencies solved,” he said adding that was their right.

He said the courts declared Nawaz Sharif guilty. He is presently championing the cause of democracy, but on the other hand, he laid off Pervez Rashid when he got displeased with Dawnleaks. He asked Nawaz to stop pointing accusing fingers at the institutions and clarify his position about his assets. He should not advance the agenda of India, he added. Holding public meetings is the right of the opposition, he said adding the courts have to decide whether absconders could deliver speeches.

Meanwhile, Minister for Science and Technology Chaudhry Fawad Hussain said that the government would adopt all legal options to bring back Nawaz Sharif as he was now a proclaimed offender. Talking to a private news channel, he said the opposition leader Shahbaz Sharif had guaranteed the return of Nawaz Sharif. Fawad said Nawaz went abroad on medical grounds but has not been admitted to any hospital in London till date.

Separately, Punjab Information Minister Fayyazul Hassan Chohan said Nawaz Sharif violated his oath by revealing the national secrets. Addressing a news conference, he said the aim of the opposition’s APC was to put pressure for the closure of corruption cases. He said Nawaz has made a huge mistake by talking about cruise missiles as Dr Samar Mubarak had answered questions about reverse engineering.

Also, the Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Senator Shibli Faraz asked Nawaz Sharif to tell how he made such huge assets and how he managed to send the money abroad. In a tweet on the social media platform Twitter, he said Nawaz Sharif was changing his ideology like changing weather. When Nawaz was out of power, he becomes a revolutionary and when he was in power he becomes a dictator, he added.