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ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi told the National Assembly on Tuesday that remarks of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif were misreported by Indian media, and urged the opposition members to refrain from putting the national security at stake for political point-scoring.

While speaking on the floor of National Assembly, Abbasi said, “Indian media misinterpreted the interview of Nawaz Sharif for its own purposes. It is unfortunate that we followed their lead. Not only did we follow it but it also became a lead story of our electronic and print media. There is no reality in it. In detailed interview of Nawaz Sharif, a sentence about militant organization and non-state actors was misreported by Indian media. Will we allow ourselves to be used by India? We should not become the tool of India.”

The Prime Minister said that he can say with certainty that no one in Parliament has read the newspaper interview of the former prime minister of which a furor is being created in the House. He said the national security issues must not be exploited for political point-scoring. He said the opposition should not disseminate India’s narrative by calling former prime minister a ‘traitor’.

“There is no need for Nawaz Sharif to get a certificate of patriotism from anybody. Nobody needs a certificate of patriotism from anyone. Nawaz Sharif made defense of the country invincible. He made Pakistan an atomic state. Now the people will decide about the matter in election,” he said.

The Prime Minister said the subject matter is not something new that only Nawaz has spoken about, saying that former President General Pervez Musharraf (retd), former DG ISI Lt-Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha (retd), Chairman Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan, former National Security Adviser Major General Mahmud Ali Durrani (retd) and former Interior Minister Rehman Malik had also talked about the issue.

He said the former prime minister did not say that the militants were deliberately sent from Pakistan for the Mumbai attacks.

The Prime Minister categorically stated that Pakistan has a consistent policy of not allowing use of its soil for attacks against any other country. He said this has been the policy since forever and will remain so.

The Prime Minister said that a national truth and reconciliation commission can be made so the truth can come out.