What Nawaz Sharif's Victory in Pakistan General Elections 2013 means for the Country's Neighbours

Nawaz Sharif

                     Nawaz Sharif is poised for a record third term as Pakistan’s Prime Minister with his political party Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) dominating both the federal government and the Punjab provincial government. In Pakistan’s volatile 65-year-old history, the landmark general elections marked the first civilian transfer of power following a successful completion of a five year term by a democratically elected government of Pakistan.

Leaders of many countries congratulated Sharif over his party’s victory, including Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, British PM David Cameron, Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Saudi Arabian King Abdullah‚ US President Barack Obama, United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad.

In the 1990s, Sharif was twice the Prime Minister of Pakistan and made efforts to make peace with India which, however, caused unease in Pakistani military. His efforts were interrupted in 1999 by the then military ruler Pervez Musharraf. During the 2013 general election campaign, Sharif vowed to revive the peace talks with India from where they were left off in 1999.

China and the Central Asian countries of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan are relieved to see Sharif as the next PM because they are worried about the possible rise of the Taliban after the US pull out, and they hope Sharif will broker peace talks with the Taliban.

Sharif says Islamabad has good relations with the United States, but he calls the US drone strikes on the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan a challenge to his country’s sovereignty.  Sharif will face pressure from the US and Saudi Arabia against Pakistan’s plan to import gas from Iran. The former government of Pakistan, led by Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) whose relations were warmer with Iran than with Saudi Arabia, had rejected this pressure and signed an agreement with Iran.

PML-N said it will review the gas pipeline project to check if it is economically feasible and whether it effects Pakistan’s relations with its neighbours. Finding a balance between Islamabad’s relations with Iran and the Arab world will be a challenge for the government. PML-N says it will revisit Pakistan’s foreign policy, including agreements with Iran and the US, to focus it on protecting Pakistan’s interests without damaging relations with any country. Sharif said his government will help the US forces in their withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Sharif says he will improve trade and travel relations and establish friendly ties with India. The current bilateral trade between India and Pakistan is US$ 2.4 billion per year, but economists believe it has a potential to increase multiple times with better ties. The Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called Sharif’s victory a “significant victory” and invited him to visit India at a “mutually convenient time.” Sharif said he would invite Manmohan Singh for his oath-taking ceremony to Islamabad.

This is a guest post by Puja Bhatia, who contributes to Docsity News. You can visit her personal blog from here. If you want to write for this blog then please use this Contact Us form to get started. 

About the Author

This is a guest post from Puja Bhatia. She contributes to Docsity news and other blogs too. She loves to write articles on various topics. She is one of the guest authors of our network.

Get Free Email Updates to your Inbox!

• Rss
• Twitter
• FaceBook
• Google +