ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Saturday stressed the need to improve Pakistan’s relations with neighboring countries, including India and Afghanistan, to pursue more effective diplomacy on the world stage and raise the country’s international status.
The ex-premier’s statement comes amid Pakistan’s frosty bilateral relations with the neighboring states, particularly India and Afghanistan, over a spectrum of issues, including a protracted territorial dispute and cross-border militancy.
Pakistan severed diplomatic and economic ties with India in August 2019 after New Delhi stripped the disputed state of Jammu and Kashmir of its special constitutional status. Its relationship with Kabul is also at the lowest ebb following a surge in suicide attacks in Pakistan which have been blamed on a militant network, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), whose leadership is believed to be operating from Afghanistan. These mounting tensions between the two neighbors have also led to the deportation of Afghan nationals from the country due to security reason.
In his past tenures as the prime minister, Sharif tried to improve Pakistan’s relations with its arch-rival and nuclear-armed neighbor, India, for which he also faced criticism from his political opponents. His recent statement is viewed as significant since he is widely believed to be seeking the position of prime minister in the wake of the next general elections slated for February 8.
“How is it possible to achieve global status if your neighbors are upset with you, or you with them,” he questioned while addressing the party’s parliamentary board meeting in Lahore.
“We have to mend our relations with India and Afghanistan,” he continued. “Strengthen them further with Iran and China.”
Sharif said the government should not just focus on economic obligations but display its performance in every sector.
He maintained the country had done quite well during his past tenures in all the fields, including defense and foreign affairs.
Referring to his decision in May 1998 to test nuclear weapons in response to India, he said his administration had bolstered the country’s security.
Sharif recalled that two Indian prime ministers, Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 1999 and Narendra Modi in 2015, had visited Pakistan during his past tenures.
“Did anyone visit before them,” he asked.
The ex-premier returned to Pakistan from London in October after ending a self-imposed exile of about four years to contest the upcoming polls. He will spearhead his party’s election campaign and contend for the top political office in Pakistan for the fourth time.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan said on Saturday it was “deeply disappointed” by the United Nations Security Council’s failure to seek an end to Israeli airstrikes and ground offensive against the residents of Gaza amid a massive loss of human life in its latest session in New York.
The session was convened a day earlier after UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres invoked a rarely exercised power under Article 99 of the UN Charter, urging the Security Council to respond to the situation in the Palestinian enclave where over 17,000 people have been killed in two months.
The war began on October 7 after a surprise attack on Israel by Hamas led to nearly 1,200 casualties, with the group describing its action as a response to the deteriorating Palestinian condition under Israeli occupation.
The international community widely viewed Israel’s response as disproportionate since it resulted in the destruction of hospitals and residential neighborhoods and the killings of significant number of civilians, including women and children.
As the Security Council convened its special meeting to address the issue, the United States vetoed a resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire in the Palestinian territory.
“Pakistan is deeply disappointed that the UN Security Council has once again failed to call for a cease-fire in Gaza, even in the face of a human tragedy of epic proportions taking place there,” the foreign office said in a statement released in Islamabad. “Despite the invocation of Article-99 of the UN Charter by the Secretary-General and his warnings of humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, the Council has failed to perform its primary responsibility to maintain international peace and security.”
The foreign office described the “collective punishment” endured by the besieged people of Gaza as unprecedented and unacceptable.
“Continuation of Israel’s campaign in occupied Palestine will prolong human suffering, with massive civilian casualties and forced displacement of millions of people,” it added. “It could also trigger a wider and more dangerous conflict. A heavy responsibility rests on all who have contributed to the prolongation of uninterrupted bombing of the people of Gaza.”
The official Pakistani statement emphasized the need for an immediate and unconditional cease-fire, adding: “We urge the UN Security Council to act now, end this inhuman war and protect the people of Gaza from genocide.”
Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas also maintained earlier today that the United States was “responsible for the bloodshed” of children in the Gaza Strip.
A statement issued by the Palestinian Authority said: “The president has described the American position as aggressive and immoral, a flagrant violation of all humanitarian principles and values, and holds the United States responsible for the bloodshed of Palestinian children, women and elderly people in the Gaza Strip.”