Nawaz Sharif has to respond to it: MEA on 4.9 billion dollars laundered to India

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Thursday refused to comment on the media reports surfacing that Pakistan's former prime minister Nawaz Sharif laundered 4.9 billion dollars to India, saying, " This is something that former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has to respond to."

"This is an allegation that has been made by (Pakistan's National Accountability Court) NAB. This is something that we do not have to respond. I think this is something that former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has to respond to," MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said whilst addressing the media briefing.

Pakistan's National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has ordered an inquiry against former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and others for allegedly laundering 4.9 billion dollars to India, according to reports in the Pakistani media.

A statement by the NAB, which ordered the inquiry based on a media report, claimed that the amount was laundered to the Indian finance ministry after which Indian foreign exchange reserves witnessed an increase and Pakistan suffered as a result, reported Pakistan's Geo News.

According to the media report, the incident was mentioned in the World Bank's Migration and Remittance Book 2016.

However, the World Bank denied the media reports claiming that its 2016 report on remittances mentioned that Pakistan's former prime minister Nawaz Sharif laundered 4.9 billion dollars to India, raising a question on the credibility of the anti-corruption watchdog.

On a related note, on Thursday Nawaz Sharif challenged the National Accountability Court (NAB) chairman Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal to present evidence of money laundering against him within 24 hours or else resign.

"NAB chairman should present all evidences they had against me within 24 hours. If you fail to present evidence, then you (Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal) should publicly apologise to the nation and resign," Nawaz said, while addressing an emergency press conference in Islamabad against the anti-graft body.