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Born into Sharif family in Lahore, he is the son of Ittefaq and Sharif Group founder Muhammad Sharif, and the elder-brother of three-time elected Punjab Chief Minister, Shehbaz. Sharif studied business at Government College and later law at the University of Punjab before entering politics in the later 1970s. In 1981, Sharif was appointed by the military government as the Minister of Finance for the province of Punjab. Backed by a loose coalition of conservatives, he was elected as the Chief Minister of Punjab in 1985 and re-elected after the end of martial law in 1988. In 1990, Sharif led a conservative alliance to victory, leading him to become the Prime Minister. Later it was blamed that the election was rigged in favor of Sharif by the Pakistani intelligence through channeling millions of rupees into his election campaign.
sharif:sfirst administration came to an end when then President Ghulam dismissed Sharif on corruption charges. Sharif successfully challenged the dismissal in the Supreme Court,but both men were ultimately persuaded to step down in 1993 by army chief Waheed. Sharif's second term also saw tussles with the judiciary and the military. Sharif also forcibly relieved General Karamat from command and replaced him with Musharraf in 1998.[6] However, Kargil War deteriorated his relations with Musharraf. When he attempted to relieve Musharraf from his command on 12 October 1999, the military instead ousted Sharif's government and exiled him to Saudi Arabia.
In 2013 elections, Sharif's Muslim League formed a coalition government. As a result, Sharif was elected Prime Minister by Parliament. On security front, in 2015 the military launched an offensive to remove extremist groups in northwestern Pakistan and another paramilitary offensive in 2017. Sharif's third term is also underpinned by social centrism rather than the social conservatism, which guided his prior two terms. Sharif's third term has brought macroeconomic stability with the help of substantial loans from IMF, and signed multi-billion investment deals with China. However, has faced criticism over rising sovereign debt, which has risen by 35%. Sharif's family has come under trial over Panama Papers
Atomic policy
During the 1997 elections, Sharif promised to follow his policy of nuclear ambiguity with the programme more benefited to people, and to use nuclear energy to stimulate the power in the country. However, on 17 September 1997, Sharif acknowledged the fact that atomic bomb project which was started and successfully concluded in 1978, his interview was taken by the STN News which was broadcast in entire country before his state visit to United States. Sharif maintained that:
The issue of [atomic] capability is an established fact. hence the debate on this [atomic] [i]ssue should come to an end.... Since 1972, [P]akistan had progressed significantly, and we have left that stage (developmental) far behind. Pakistan will not be made a "hostage" to India by signing the CTBT, before (India).
— Nawaz Sharif, Prime minister of Pakistan, statement on September 7, 1997,
On 1 December, after returning from United States, Sharif then told the Daily Jang and The News International that Pakistan will immediately sign and become a party of Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) but, if and only if, India signed, ratified and, becomes a part of CTBT first. Under his leadership, the nuclear program had become a vital part of Pakistan's economical policy as the program had become back-bone of economy of Pakistan in 1998.
1998 nuclear tests
Main articles: Chagai-I and Chagai-II
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