Sharif will attend the conference during which he is likely to meet the presidents of China, Russia, Iran, as well as Modi, according to the sources.
The head of the state is respectable, regardless of his party affiliation, as he represents the country, Afridi said, adding, "If you want the respect of your country in the world, respect the premier."
The official, who requested not to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue, said Putin expressed his desire to deepen cooperation between the two countries.
The premier blamed PTI for the delay in the launch of the project and regretted that the route plan for Islamabad was reduced abruptly to cut the cost from Rs 16 billion to Rs 12 billion, which he said, caused immense loss to the project's materialisation.
The relations between India and Pakistan have further deteriorated after India in August 2019 announced the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcated the state into two union territories.
Former federal minister and PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry, however, refuted PM Shehbaz Sharif's statement, saying that the new Premier is "throwing dirt on Imran Khan".
Earlier, PTI MNAs had walked out of the Assembly, with Shah Mahmood Qureshi, who was the party's candidate for the top post, announcing that they would be resigning en masse from the National Assembly.
PML-N senior leaders Khawaja Asif and Rana Tanveer will act as endorsers for Sharif.
Islamabad: The Election Commission on Wednesday took notice of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chairman Imran Khan and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif delivering speeches after casting their votes in the 11th general elections, which it termed as “violation of the code of conduct”. The poll panel spokesperson Nadeem Qasim told Express News that actions may […]