Benazir Bhutto, Nawaz Sharif offered me party tickets multipe times: PM Imran Khan

• Was friends with both Benazir and Nawaz Sharif, says PM Imran Khan. 
• Nawaz Sharif was more interested in cricket and by chance, became prime minister, taunts PM Khan.
• Was opposed to PML-N, PPP's corruption and challenged them, says PM Khan. 

ISLAMABAD: Speaking about his entry into politics a little over two decades ago, Prime Minister Imran Khan Tuesday recalled how former prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif both offered him party tickets multiple times. 

The premier was addressing the launching ceremony of defence analyst Ikram Sehgal's book. PM Imran Khan said he was new to politics when he first formed the PTI. 

PM Khan said he had studied politics in university and therefore understood international politics, but every country has its own culture of politics, and “I had no knowledge of Pakistani politics and that is how I began my career in it". 

The prime minister said he was friends with both Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif when he entered into politics. 

"I was friends with both Benazir and Nawaz Sharif. Sharif was more interested in cricket and by chance, he became prime minister. I knew them personally and they both offered me party tickets again and again, but I was opposed to their corruption and challenged them," the premeir recalled. 

PM Khan, turning his guns on the Opposition, lamented that leaders of Pakistan's political parties spent their summers abroad and never thought about the country. 

Speaking about his experience as a cricketer, PM Khan said there were two types of cricketers: one who played for the country while the other played for his/her own interests. 

He said that those leaders, who thought of individual gains and personal interests, were never respected by nations, while those working for the country always respected, he said, adding that the Quaid-e-Azam always worked and thought for the nation.