Sharif set for 3rd term as Pak PM, India welcomes poll outcome

Nawaz Sharif was poised for a record third term as Pakistan's Prime Minister with his PML-N party today taking an unassailable lead in parliamentary elections, which was welcomed by India with whom he pledged to restart the peace process.
During the campaign, 63-year-old Sharif had vowed to revive the Indo-Pak peace process which was interrupted in 1999 by the then military ruler Parvez Musharraf who ousted him in a bloodless coup, jailed and exiled. He had started the peace process with then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
In New Delhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh lost no time in congratulating Sharif for his "emphatic victory" in the elections and invited him to visit India at a mutually convenient time.

According to state-run PTV, the unofficial results announced till late in the night showed that Sharif's PML (N) is leading with 118 seats of 272 parliamentary seats that went to the polls yesterday. Sharif needs 137 seats for a majority.
According to trends, Sharif is likely to get 125 seats.
Sharif may marginally fall short of absolute majority but will be able to make it up by getting the support of independent candidates and smaller rightist parties like the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam which was ahead in 11 seats.