PM Abbasi calls on Nawaz after NSC meeting

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi called on former premier and party supremo Nawaz Sharif on Monday after chairing a meeting of the National Security Committee (NSC).

Sources said the two leaders, who met at the residence of Chaudhry Muneer, discussed the NSC meeting which was held to review Nawaz’s controversial statement on the Mumbai attacks.

Sources also said that Nawaz’s daughter Maryam and other senior Pakistan Muslim League-N leaders attended the meeting. 

Earlier today, the NSC met and categorically denied former premier Nawaz Sharif's recent statement on the 2008 Mumbai attacks and unanimously termed it "completely false and misleading".

The NSC, which met under the chair of Prime Minister Abbasi, said in its statement that the country's top civil and military leadership conducted a detailed review of Nawaz's statement printed in a newspaper interview on Saturday.

'I asked a question, deserve an answer,' says Nawaz

Former PM sticks to his stance over recent controversial statement on Mumbai attacks despite PML-N's 'rejection' of all claims made in newspaper interview

The NSC said it was unfortunate and regrettable that concrete evidence and facts were ignored in the statement.

"Pakistan will continue its efforts to eliminate terrorism on all fronts," it was stated further.

Nawaz, in a recent interview to Dawn newspaper, had said, “Militant organisations are active. Call them non-state actors, should we allow them to cross the border and kill 150 people in Mumbai? Explain it to me. Why can’t we complete the trial?”

His remarks were played up by the Indian media as an admission of Pakistan's involvement in the terrorist attacks, even though similar questions and statements have been raised from civilian and security officials in Pakistan earlier.

NSC terms Nawaz's statement on Mumbai attacks 'completely false and misleading'

The meeting was held at PM House and included country's senior military and civilian leadership

Despite criticism from various political quarters and the disowning of the 'misleading' remarks from his own brother and party president Shehbaz Sharif, Nawaz stuck to his stance Monday morning. 

Interacting with reporters at the accountability court hearing corruption cases against him, he said, “I had asked a question. I need an answer”.

The three-time prime minister deplored that this is the reason the world does not hear Pakistan’s stance and stated that it is important to ask why that is.