WASHINGTON: Pakistan’s former ambassador to Washington on Monday cast doubt on incoming prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s overtures to the United States and India, saying he had a poor record on opposing extremists.

Husain Haqqani, who is close to the rival PPP, said that Mr Sharif may not back up his statements with substance after the two-time prime minister’s PML-N triumphed in Saturday’s polls.

“He will say he wants good relations with the United States and there are individual Americans with whom he has very good relations,” Mr Haqqani told a press conference called by the New York-based Council on Foreign Relations.

“Similarly, he will go ahead and engage with India. But will he really crack down on the hardline groups, many of whom campaigned for him and supported him in this election? I’m not so sure,” Mr Haqqani said.

Mr Sharif in a press talk on Monday promised to address any concerns of the United States and India and vowed “full support” as Washington pulls troops out of Afghanistan next year.

But Mr Haqqani faulted Mr Sharif for the creation of Lashkar-e-Taiba, a virulently anti-India militant movement, and noted that he was prime minister during the short Kargil war with India in 1999.

Mr Sharif later said that the Kargil conflict was engineered by the military under its chief Pervez Musharraf, who later ousted him in a military coup.

Mr Haqqani said that Mr Sharif was returning “with a stronger hand” in Pakistan’s historic tension between the military and civilians.

“He will definitely try to assert himself far more than past civilian rulers have, including him in his previous incarnation,” Mr Haqqani said.—AFP