Pakistan Muslim League–Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif said he would not allow militant groups to attack India from his country and would work to improve ties with rival New Delhi if elected.
“If I become the prime minister I will make sure that the Pakistani soil is not used for any such designs against India,” Nawaz told CNN-IBN in an interview.
Nawaz, who was prime minister twice in the 1990s, said it was time to improve ties between New Delhi and Islamabad.
“We have issues of course which need to be resolved and I think I can quote you a lot of examples where rivals or people opposed to each other, countries opposed to each other have resolved much difficult problems than we have,” he said.
Nawaz, who has been critical of military meddling in civilian affairs, said he would call for a joint investigation of whether Pakistani intelligence agencies played any role in the Mumbai attack.
“I will take up this matter. Certainly this matter will have to be taken up,” said Nawaz.
Despite recent strains, India and Pakistan’s relations have improved after nose-diving in 2008 when gunmen killed 166 people in Mumbai in a three-day rampage.