page_title: Nawaz Sharif
section_title: Foreign policy
hierarchical_section_title: Nawaz Sharif / Second term as prime minister (1997–1999) / Foreign policy
caption_attribution_description: Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen (right) escorts visiting Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif of Pakistan.
context_page_description: Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif is a Pakistani businessman and politician who served as the prime minister of Pakistan for three non-consecutive terms. Sharif is the longest-serving prime minister of Pakistan having served a total of more than 9 years.
  Born into the upper-middle class Sharif family in Lahore, Sharif is the son of Muhammad Sharif, the founder of Ittefaq and Sharif Group. He is the elder brother of Shehbaz Sharif, who also served as the chief minister of Punjab. According to the Election Commission of Pakistan, Sharif is the one of the wealthiest men in Pakistan, with an estimated net worth of at least 1.6 billion Pakistani rupees. Most of Sharif's wealth originates from his businesses in steel construction.
  Before entering politics in the 1970s, Sharif studied business at Government College and law at the University of Punjab. In 1981, Sharif was appointed by President Zia as the minister of finance for the province of Punjab. Backed by a loose coalition of conservatives, Sharif was elected as the Chief Minister of Punjab in 1985 and re-elected after the end of martial law in 1988.
context_section_description: Sharif strengthened Pakistan's relations with the Muslim world, Turkey, and Europe.
  In February 1997, Sharif met with Chinese President Jiang Zemin and Premier Li Peng to discuss economic co-operation. Two conferences were organised in Beijing and Hong Kong to promote Chinese investment in Pakistan.
  In 1997, Sharif signed a trilateral free trade agreement with Malaysia and Singapore, which was followed by collaboration in defence. One of the core issues was Malaysia's agreement on sharing its space technology with Pakistan. Both Malaysia and Singapore assured their support for Pakistan to join Asia–Europe Meeting, though Pakistan and India were not party to the treaty until 2008.
  In January 1998, Sharif signed bilateral economic agreements with South Korean President Kim Young-sam. Sharif urged North Korea to make peace and improve its ties with South Korea; causing a division in Pakistan–North Korean relations. In April 1998, Sharif went on to visit Italy, Germany, Poland, and Belgium to promote economic ties. He signed a number of agreements to enlarge economic co-operation with Italy and Belgium, and an agreement with the European Union (EU) for the protection of intellectual, industrial and commercial property rights.
  However, Sharif's diplomatic efforts seemed to have gone to waste after conducting nuclear tests in May 1998. Widespread international criticism brought Pakistan's reputation to a low since the Indo-Pakistani war of 1971. Pakistan failed to gather any support from its allies at the UN, and trade agreements were repealed by the US, Europe, and Asian bloc. Pakistan was accused of allowing nuclear proliferation. In June 1998, Sharif authorized a secret meeting between Pakistan and Israel's ambassadors to the UN and US, and assured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Pakistan would not transfer nuclear technology or materials to Iran or other Middle Eastern countries. Israel responded with concerns that Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi's visit to Pakistan shortly after the May 1998 nuclear weapons tests was a sign that Pakistan was preparing to sell nuclear technology to Iran.
  In 1998, India and Pakistan made an agreement recognising the principle of building an environment of peace and security and resolving all bilateral conflicts. On 19 February 1999, Indian Premier Atal Bihari Vajpayee paid a historic state visit to Pakistan, travelling on the inaugural Delhi–Lahore Bus connecting the Indian capital with Pakistan's major cultural city of Lahore. On 21 February, the prime ministers signed a bilateral agreement with a memorandum of understanding to ensure nuclear-free safety in South Asia, which became known as the Lahore Declaration. The agreement was widely popular in both countries, where it was felt that development of nuclear weapons brought added responsibility and promoted the importance of confidence-building measures to avoid accidental or unauthorised use of nuclear weapons. Some Western observers compared the treaty to the cold war Strategic Arms Limitation Talks.
caption: Sharif in Washington D.C. with William S. Cohen in 1998
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