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DUBAI - Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Nawaz Sharif has said that reforms in India were inspired by the initiatives taken by his government. Speaking at a dinner reception on Tuesday night, Nawaz said that India’s reforms were initiated in the nineties by the Narsehma Rao government after getting inspired by the industrial reforms introduced by the PML-N government in Pakistan, according to Emirates 24/7.
During his first term as prime minister in 1990, Nawaz adopted neo-liberal policies, privatising several state-owned businesses. In June 1991, Rao became India’s prime minister and appointed Manmohan Singh as finance minister. Soon the rupee was devalued and Rao, who also held the portfolio of Ministry of Industries, abolished industrial licensing and other socialist measures which India had adopted until then. “If not for the corrupt governments that followed later, Pakistan would have been on the path of economic growth by now,” said Nawaz, while criticising the leadership of both the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and former military ruler General (r) Pervez Musharraf. He also blamed the two for the increase in conflict and militancy in Pakistan.