KARACHI: Railways Minister Saad Rafique said on Thursday that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is being punished for turning Pakistan into an atomic power in 1999.

In a message on Twitter, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader said world powers, through their 'puppets' Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf and former Chief Justice of Pakistan Irshad Hussain, were behind the premier?s dismissal then.

This time around there is a conspiracy to punish Nawaz Sharif over his economic turnaround of the country with regards to the China Pakistan Economic Corridor, he said, adding that this is an old game of the world powers but the players are new.

He urged the public to recognise the puppets working against Pakistan?s development for their personal interests.

He termed those who made an uproar over ?rigging? in the 2013 elections and then the Panama Papers puppets of various colours and sizes.