ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Monday criticised Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for what he termed an ineffective tour of Saudi Arabia.
The prime minister had attended the first-ever Arab-Islamic-American Summit in Riyadh on Sunday, where he interacted with Saudi King Salman Bin Abdulaziz, US President Donald Trump and other leaders from Arab and Islamic countries.
The PTI chief, speaking to the media, accused the prime minister of failing to take a stand for Pakistan and other Muslim communities, including Iran, Kashmir and Palestine, during his interactions in Riyadh.
Imran said Nawaz was ignored at the summit and was not allowed to deliver a speech as ‘he has no dignity’.
He said Nawaz Sharif lacks self-esteem therefore no one gives him respect. He said such a prime minister gives bad name to the country also.
Khan pointed out that in his speech, US President Trump failed to mention the sacrifices rendered by Pakistan in the war against terror while Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif failed to correct him. “The most important thing is that he [Trump] did not even mention Pakistan … the country that fought America’s war and lost 70,000 people,” Khan said.
“The country became a front-line state and sacrificed lives in the war but instead Trump praised India,” Khan added.
During his speech, Trump had named India among the countries that are a ‘victims of terrorism’.
Khan also criticised the US president for not speaking about the atrocities committed by India against the people of India-held Kashmir. “He [Trump] praised India for making sacrifices and did not speak about the atrocities being committed against the Kashmiris … he did not speak about Palestinians,” he added.
The PTI chief said that when Trump lashed out against Iran and called for the country to be isolated, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif should have taken a stance and said that such a move would be against the interests of the Muslim world.
During his speech, Trump had accused Iran of fuelling ‘the fires of sectarian conflict and terror’ and called for its international isolation. “He [the prime minister] should have spoken about the parliamentary resolution which was unanimously accepted by all parties and which said that Pakistan would work to bring the Muslim community together,” Khan said.
He added that since Nawaz was representing Pakistan at the summit, it was his duty to emphasise that Pakistan does not want Iran to be isolated. “We had an opportunity, but he kept silent,” the PTI chief said. “We do not want the Muslim world to be divided,” he added.
Khan added that considering the destruction Pakistan has suffered due to its involvement in the ‘wars of others’, it should have been highlighted by the prime minister that the country ‘will not be a partisan to these matters’.