Pakistan: Shehbaz Sharif mentions Kashmir in first speech, then makes embarrassing ‘loan’ confession

Shehbaz Sharif was on Sunday elected as the next prime minister of Pakistan. The ruling coalition of the PML(N), PPP and other small outfits picked him as the prime minister unanimously in Pakistan’s National Assembly.

In his maiden speech after the election, he appealed to his country’s parliament to pass a resolution on the “freedom of Kashmiris and Palestianians”. He, however, later made an embarrassing remark reflecting the dire financial situation of the cash-strapped country.

Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday called out the ‘global silence’ on the prevailing situation in Gaza, where thousands of citizens have died since October 7 in Israel’s counterattack to Hamas’ terror strike.

He also mentioned the controversial topic of Kashmir.

Shehbaz Sharif, in his victory speech, talked about passing resolutions in the National Assembly, Pakistan’s parliament.

“Let’s all come together…and the National Assembly should pass a resolution for the freedom of Kashmiris and Palestinians,” he said.

In the same speech, however, he claimed that the expenditure of the National Assembly is being met from borrowed money.

“All of these (expenses for running the House) are being met via loans over the last few years. This is the biggest challenge faced by the country today,” he said.

He also talked about the severe economic downturn the country has been facing.

Pakistan, whose politics is mostly controlled by its Army and spy agency ISI, is in financial dire straits. It doesn’t not have the money to pay its fuel bills amid dwindling foreign reserves. The people of the country are also facing severe inflation.

It secured a 3 billion dollar loan arrangement from the IMF last year. However, it is still struggling to stabilise its economy.

Last month, Pakistan’s jailed former prime minister Imran Khan asked the International Monetary Fund to ensure that an audit of the disputed elections is carried out before any more bailout talks with the country.

Khan, who is in jail over a host of corruption cases, claims independent candidates backed by his party should have won the elections had the alleged rigging not happened.