Pakistan’s new PM Shehbaz Sharif pledges to ’maintain relations with neighbors’ and ’eradicate terrorism’ | Top 5 quotes

Pakistan's newly-elected Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday took a pledge to revive the country's debt-trapped economy and eradicate terrorism, saying his government would not allow the country to become part of some "great game" and would maintain cordial relations with neighbors based on the principles of equality.

Soon after Shehbaz Sharif was elected as the 24th prime minister and for a second time since 2022, the 72-year-old, in his victory speech, profusely thanked his elder brother and three-time former premier Nawaz Sharif and allies for putting their trust in him and allowing him to head a coalition government. 

Shehbaz secured 201 votes, while his challenger Omar Ayub Khan of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) got only 92 votes in the election held at the newly-elected National Assembly.

Top 5 quotes from Shehbaz Sharif's first speech

1) "No party secured a clear parliamentary majority. It was the democratic way that "like-minded parties may form a coalition government". My government would work hard and set a goal to become a member of G20 countries by 2030."

2) "Pakistan would not become part of any "great game" and his government would increase the number of friends. We will keep ties with neighbors on the basis of equality."

3) “Let’s all come together […] and the National Assembly should pass a resolution for the freedom of Kashmiris and Palestinians."

4) Without taking any names, Shehbaz took a jibe at the PTI for hounding the opposition when it was in power, going against the country’s national interests while resorting to leveling serious allegations against the armed forces. “This is the difference between this leadership and that leadership […] the entire assembly is witness to the fact that we never thought of the politics of revenge.”

5) “Never was once a pot broken, nor was any building ever damaged […] but it shameful that the country saw a day when GHQ, corps commander houses, airfields were attacked on May 9."

(With inputs from agencies)