Nawaz Sharif
Prime Minister of Pakistan
"I went to Washington to find a way to end the fighting with honour."
Biography
The civilian prime minister of Pakistan during the Kargil War, Nawaz Sharif found himself in an extraordinary and precarious position — having welcomed India's Prime Minister Vajpayee to Lahore in a landmark peace initiative only months before, he was left to manage a war he later claimed his own army chief, Musharraf, had launched without his full knowledge. As the military position collapsed and the danger of nuclear escalation grew, Sharif flew to Washington and, in a dramatic July 4, 1999 meeting with President Clinton, agreed to withdraw Pakistani forces behind the Line of Control — ending the war but at grave political cost. The Kargil debacle poisoned his relationship with Musharraf, who overthrew him in a coup that October. Sharif's fraught handling of Kargil marked a defining, and near-fatal, crisis of his career.
Did you know?
His decision to fly to Washington and agree to withdraw on America's Independence Day, July 4, 1999, effectively ended the Kargil War — and helped set in motion the coup that removed him three months later.
Key Battles
The Kargil Infiltration
Pakistan victoryMay 1999 · 1,000 total casualties
The Kargil intrusion, masterminded by General Musharraf, was an audacious gamble that came within months of the two countries' 1998 nuclear tests — raising the terrifying prospect of the world's first war between nuclear-armed states.
Life Journey
Timeline
December 25, 1949
🌅 Birth
Born in Lahore
July 4, 1999
📍 Posting
Agrees in Washington to withdraw from Kargil