The Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday said that an “objective view” is now emerging in Pakistan, days after former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said that his country violated a peace agreement with India in 1999.
The Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) leader on Tuesday said that Islamabad had violated the Lahore Declaration signed by him and Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the Indian prime minister at the time, in 1999. Sharif’s comments were in reference to the Kargil War that began in May 1999 and ended in July 1999.
“On May 28, 1998, Pakistan carried out five nuclear tests,” Sharif said on Tuesday. “After that, Vajpayee saheb came here and made an agreement with us. But we violated that agreement. It was our fault.”
On Thursday, the external affairs ministry was asked at a media briefing about its stance on Sharif’s comments.
“You are well aware of our opinion, our thoughts, and our position on it,” said Randhir Jaiswal, the ministry’s spokesperson. “As for what we are observing, we are seeing that an objective view is now emerging in Pakistan as well.”
The Lahore Declaration had called for maintaining peace and security, and promoting people-to-people contact, among other steps, to improve bilateral relations. However, Pervez Musharraf, the Pakistan Army chief at the time, had ordered his forces to covertly infiltrate into Ladakh’s Kargil district starting from March 1999 to May 1999.
This led to a war between the two countries between May 1999 and July 1999. Sharif was Pakistan’s prime minister at the time.
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