Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday revealed that former US president Bill Clinton had offered him $5 billion for not conducting nuclear tests in 1998 and that if he had not cared for Pakistan, he would have accepted Clinton's offer.
Sharif's statement comes amid charges of corruption and money laundering levelled against him and his family following the Panama Papers leak.
"I would have taken $5 billion from the US for not carrying out nuclear tests if I were not loyal to the country," Sharif said while addressing a political gathering in Sialkot in Punjab on Wednesday claiming that the stock exchange has suffered due to the ongoing controversy.
Pakistan had held the tests days after India - under PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee - conducted the nuclear implosions at Pokhran in May 1998.
At the gathering in Sialkot, Sharif also lashed out at all his political opponents saying that the people of Pakistan were aware of who was conspiring against the development of the country, Geo TV reported. He also said that he was confident he would come out clean from the ongoing crisis.
"Their target is only to remove Nawaz Sharif and then make their own way. They could not do it through the people's vote and are now looking for another way... What corruption are they talking about?" Sharif said adding that not a single penny from public funds was ever swindled during his tenure.
"Even if only I am being held accountable, it doesn't matter as someone is being held accountable... Hold me accountable but at least tell me what the charge is," Sharif further added challenging his opponents to find even one case of corruption against him during his tenure as PM and also as a public office bearer in the 90s.
The Pakistan PM also addressed party workers later on Wednesday and told them that it was his family that was being held accountable and not the government's funds that are under scrutiny.
The demand for Sharif's resignation has been growing after the investigation team found him and his children guilty of perjury, forging documents and hiding assets. The charges were levelled after the team probed offshore assets and companies owned by him and his family.
