International media reports Nawaz returned to Pakistan after $3bn deal

Rating Justification

The iVerify Pakistan team has checked this content and has established that it is false since the original video does not mention anything about a $3 billion deal regarding PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif’s homecoming to Pakistan.

To arrive at this verdict, the iVerify Pakistan team sourced the original video uploaded on October 23, 2023, and corroborated the claim in the post with the video’s content.

HOW IT STARTED

On January 16, 2024, a 61-second clip of a news segment on PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif’s return to Pakistan on October 21, 2023, was shared by a user describing themselves as a social media influencer and journalist on social media platform X with the caption: “According to international media, Nawaz Sharif came after a $3bn deal which was caught.”

The post gained over 57,000 views and was shared 2,600 times.

The post did not have information about the programme or the media outlet the clip belonged to, nor did it provide examples of any publication or video from any other media outlet.

A PTI supporter shared the same video with the same caption on Jan 16, asking followers to “make this video viral.”

The post on X gained over 77,000 views and was shared 4,700 times.

METHODOLOGY

Investigating the clip to determine its veracity, the iVerify Pakistan team conducted a keyword search on “international media” and “Nawaz Sharif” and found a video uploaded to YouTube on October 23, 2023 with the title “Gravitas: Is Nawaz Sharif set to be Pakistan’s next Prime Minister?”

The video is an analysis segment by WION, an Indian English-language news channel headquartered in India’s city of Noida.

In the video, the Indian host Palki Sharma Upadhyay analysed Nawaz’s return to Pakistan and who was likely to secure victory in the upcoming February 8 general elections.

Following is the relevant transcript of the video till the one-minute mark:
 
“Pakistan, on October 21, 2023, it witnessed the homecoming of a former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif … landing in Lahore after living a life of exile in London for four years. Waiting at the airport to receive him was his brother and Pakistan’s former prime minister Shehbaz Sharif. A host of senior PML-N officials and Pakistani Army representatives were there as well.
 
Remember, Nawaz had not set foot in Pakistan since 2019. That’s when he left for London on medical grounds. After he was awarded a 14-year prison sentence, the conviction remains enforced, but a court in Pakistan has asked authorities to not arrest him until Tuesday.
 
So until then, Nawaz Sharif is a free man. What’s the first thing he did upon landing? Launching his party’s election campaign. Look at these visuals. Nawaz marked his homecoming with a mega rally in Lahore’s Minar-i-Pakistan.”
 
From the two-minute mark to the three-minute and 12-second mark, the host shed light on Nawaz’s cases. The relevant transcript is below:
 
“Nawaz can still not run for or hold public office because of his convictions. Before he left Pakistan, he was convicted in the Avenfield and Al-Azizia cases.

He was also declared a proclaimed offender in the Toshakhana vehicle case. Both of these cases, besides several others, are pending before accountability courts. Earlier today, he signed a series of applications to restore his pending appeals in all cases. The applications prepared by his legal team have been submitted to the Islamabad High Court.

In these petitions, Sharif has pleaded that the appeals against his convictions should be reinstated and decided on merit as per law.
 
Will he get cleared in the cases? He might just, given how he has the army’s blessings with him this time. The presence of army officials during his arrival in Lahore gave away the fact that the generals are trying to bring him back to power.
 
His opponents suspect a deal has been struck between Nawaz Sharif and the Pakistani army to let him run the country again, just how it struck a deal with Imran Khan in 2018.”

BACKGROUND OF NAWAZ SHARIF’s DEPARTURE AND ARRIVAL IN PAKISTAN

According to Dawn.com, Nawaz left for London on November 19, 2019, after being diagnosed with an immune system disorder.

The PML-N supremo returned to Pakistan on October 21, 2023, ending his four-year exile in the UK.

Nawaz was a proclaimed offender in the Avenfield, Al-Azizia, and Toshakhana cases with convictions in the first two as well. He has since been acquitted in the first two cases and secured bail in the third.

CONCLUSION

The iVerify team has determined that the claim attached to the posts circulating on social media is false as neither the clip with the circulating posts nor the original video contain any reference to or mention $3bn.

The anchorperson also does not mention any deal struck between Nawaz and the Pakistani army from her or the media outlet’s editorial point of view. Rather, she merely explained and presented to the audience a suspicion that the PML-N supremo’s political opponents hold.

The posts also did not substantiate their claim with links from or references to other publications or videos from diverse international media outlets.

Evidence and References

WION YouTube video from October 23, 2023:
https://youtu.be/pB3dDiayakE?si=Wa3wrPuPt7o4ztDe