A video of Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif seemingly claiming that Tomahawk missiles were made in Pakistan, by him, is circulating online and netizens are trolling him for it. The full version of the clip shows him saying that Pakistan reverse-engineered the US missile, but people are not convinced by that claim either.
The comment was made on September 30, when Sharif had an encounter with the media in England.
In the video, Sharif is seen addressing multiple media outlets and stating his achievements when he was Pakistan’s prime minister. He said while pointing to himself: “The Tomahawk missile, that too, was made by Nawaz Sharif, Mashallah.”
Tweeps were quick to troll the politician who is currently residing in London.
Twitter user @MusaNV18 wrote: “Ex-PM (prime minister) and absconder Nawaz Sharif is claiming Tomahawk Missile was made by him and not a US defence manufacturing company. How did we elect him thrice?”
Some social media users said that the video was taken out of context, as in a longer version of the clip, Sharif is heard adding that the Tomahawk missile was reverse-engineered in Pakistan in the 1990s.
“We brought it from Balochistan when Clinton [former US president] had fired missiles on Afghanistan,” he said.
However, that claim has also been debunked by an expert.
According to a local media report, prominent Pakistani nuclear physicist, Dr Samar Mubarakmand, said a cruise missile is very sensitive. The missile can't have landed on the ground and not hit anything, he was quoted as saying.
He said that Pakistan did find a missile in Balochistan but it was in small pieces as it had exploded. It was a useless pile of rubbish, he added.
The nuclear physicist, who was a senior figure at Pakistan’s Atomic Energy Commission, also said: “The US didn’t ask for the remains of the missile, if it had, we would have given it back.”
