Corrupt people don’t reject $5bn offer: Nawaz

• Says he told then US president Bill Clinton that Pakistan’s self-respect doesn’t have a price tag
• Ousted premier says his ouster stopped country from becoming an ‘economic’ power

LAHORE: Ousted premier Nawaz Sharif on Monday said that he refused an offer of $5 billion made by US President Bill Clinton to refrain from conducting nuclear tests in 1998.

Proving his innocence yet again, Nawaz Sharif, while addressing a Youm-e-Takbeer ceremony held in Lahore to commemorate the 20th anniversary of nuclear tests of Pakistan, said that had he been corrupt, he would have accepted Clinton’s offer right then and there.

“I told him [Clinton], you have misunderstood us,” said Nawaz. “Our self-respect does not have a price tag.”

Terming himself a ‘patriot’ who refused the offer made by a former US president, Nawaz drew a comparison with ‘dictator’ Pervez Musharraf and said that he [Musharraf] bowed down on a single phone call, whereas an elected prime minister remained steadfast.

Nawaz said that the then foreign leaders including British leadership also asked him to not to proceed with the tests but he resisted all the pressures.

The former premier further claimed that had he not conducted the nuclear tests, the then Indian PM wouldn’t have visited Pakistan.

He went on to say that Pakistan is an atomic power and no one can treat it with bad intentions.

Credited democracy with turning Pakistan into an atomic power, Nawaz said that it was an elected prime minister [Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto] who initiated the country’s atomic programme and another elected prime minister [Nawaz himself] who saw it through its final stage.

Nawaz recalled that many elements, within the country, were against going ahead with Pakistan’s atomic programme fearing international sanctions.

Recalling that he learned about India’s nuclear tests during a trip to Kazakhstan, he immediately prepared himself to give a tit for tat response since it was a matter of Pakistan’s integrity and security.

The thrice premier told the crowd that a tunnel had to be built in Chagai — where the tests had to be conducted — that would take a month, but he had it built in 17 days.

“And as soon as it was completed, we pressed the button and Pakistan became an atomic power,” Nawaz told his cheering supporters.

“After the tests were conducted, I called Clinton, since he had called me five times to convince me not to go ahead with the nuclear programme,” Nawaz said and added, “I asked him [Clinton] ‘are you not an elected president?’ He said ‘yes I am’. I then said that I am an elected prime minister and I have a responsibility towards my nation.”

The ousted prime minister claimed that Clinton acknowledged his argument and had commended him for “fighting him with a straight back”.

The former premier then claimed that Clinton had become his friend after the episode and later had played a positive role in Kargil. “This is diplomacy,” Sharif said.

He regretted that after becoming an atomic power, Pakistan was on its way to becoming an economic power, but the journey was cut short due to his ouster. “Is this why I’m being punished? Is this why I have to go to NAB courts every morning?” he asked.

Nawaz lamented that he was being labelled as a traitor while others had become ‘darlings’.

He urged his supporters to vote PML-N into power in the upcoming general elections.