Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Former foreign secretary Najmuddin A Shaikh has said that international pressure on Pakistan for an investigation into the Panama leaks will increase in the coming days.

Talking to Daily Times on Sunday, Shaikh said the United States had also launched a criminal investigation into the widespread tax evasion. He said that an American attorney had sought record of the offshore companies named by the Panama Papers. He had written to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), the home of offshore leaks, and asked it to assist with further criminal investigation into the issue.

Shaikh, who remained foreign secretary of Pakistan from 1994 to 1997, quoted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif as saying in a televised address to the nation that he would write a letter to the Supreme Court chief justice to form a judicial commission to investigate the allegations levelled against his family in the wake of the Panama leaks. He said the chief justice might not form the judicial commission on this issue because it would consume a long time. He said the Panama Papers showed that the leadership of China, Russia and Britain and many other countries had offshore companies. Initially, all these countries were concentrating on their internal affairs, but later they would focus on the leaders of other countries, including Pakistan, who had offshore companies, he said.

Shaikh said that even President Barack Obama had highlighted the scale of tax evasion by 500 companies amounting to trillions of dollars worldwide. He said that developing countries were losing a lot of money due to these companies. He said that anonymous companies were also operating in the US, especially in Nebraska and Delaware states, and the US might start investigations into the affairs of these companies. He said the investigation would expand and Pakistan would definitely be included in it.

He said that internally the opposition was mounting pressure on the government to launch an investigation into the Panama leaks. On the other hand, he said, the Pakistan Army had given a clear message through a recent dismissal of senior officers, including two generals, on corruption charges. This message clearly conveyed that accountability must go on. Shaikh said that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had not explained that where his children get this money to invest in offshore companies. He said the crisis triggered by the Panama leaks would intensify in the coming days.

The former secretary, while responding to a question relating to the possible impact of the Panama leaks on Pakistan’s foreign policy, said the government was focusing only on the Panama leaks at the moment. He said the prime minister would face pressure from different quarters and even his policy on India would be affected.

Former foreign secretary Akram Zaki told Daily Times that the opposition should wait after prime minister’s announcement that he would form a commission to investigate this issue and resign if proven guilty. He said that every country was looking after its own interests. Presently, he said, Pakistan’s relations with China were excellent and with the United States better. He said that the Iranian president recently visited Pakistan and Russia also wanted better relations with Pakistan. He said the incumbent Pakistani government was stable and its trading agencies had shown positive indicators. He said the opposition should not build more pressure on the government.

Zaki said that currently the opposition was divided and it could put more pressure on the government if it’s united. He said the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) did not want prime minister’s resignation; it was only the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), which wanted the prime minister to resign. He said that the government would be under pressure if PTI’s rally on Sunday attracts a big number of people. He said the international community always wanted to have good relations with the government. If they don’t have good relations with a government, he said, they look towards the opposition.