Bilawal meeting Nawaz does not affect PM Imran: Sheikh Rasheed

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Railways Sheikh Rasheed said on Tuesday that Pakistan People’s Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto meeting former prime minister Nawaz Sharif at prison will not affect Prime Minister Imran Khan.

The federal minister was addressing a press conference in Rawalpindi, where he reacted to the recent meeting between the two opposition leaders. “Those being probed by National Accountability Bureau will not have an impact on PM Imran.”

“There seems to be no future in sight for Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and PPP,” he said.

Commenting on the visit of the PPP chairman to Nawaz, which was primarily to inquire about the former prime minister’s health, Rasheed said that Bilawal went to take advice from the former PML-N president.

“Nawaz Sharif told him (Bilawal) that he is stuck himself,” said the federal minister.

The federal minister also criticised former chief minister Punjab Shehbaz Sharif and said that he plays like a double agent.

Earlier, the prime minister’s spokesman Naeem ul Haque called Bilawal's meeting with Nawaz political. “In my opinion, I don’t think he [Bilawal] went to visit him [Nawaz] because he is ill, rather it was a political meeting,” Haque told reporters on Tuesday.

“In the history of Pakistan, there is no record of the economy being destroyed as they [PPP, PML-N] did in the last ten years. This is why both the heads of the party are being investigated by NAB,” Haque added.  

A day earlier, Bilawal paid a visit to Nawaz Sharif at the Kot Lakhpat jail to inquire about his health.

Following his meeting, Bilawal told reporters Nawaz Sharif looked very ill and on behalf of PPP demanded that the former prime minister is given the best medical treatment. “I hope the prime minister and his government think on humanitarian grounds," Bilawal said.