Lahore, Jan 11 (PTI) Pakistan's ousted prime minister Imran Khan on Wednesday lashed out at the ruling coalition leaders, saying these "crooks" led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif have destroyed the country's economy and now they are begging from the world.

Khan's comments came two days after the international community at a donors' conference - co-hosted by Pakistan and the United Nations in Geneva on Monday - pledged more than USD 10 billion to help the cash-strapped country rebuild in a climate-resilient manner after last year's ravaging floods.

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In a video address to his party's lawmakers, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman also talked about the progress of India and Bangladesh vis-a-viz Pakistan.

"Take an example of only IT sector…India's IT exports were USD 1 billion in 2000 and today they have crossed over USD 140 billion. And see where we are standing today. The two families - Sharifs and Zardaris - which remained in power for 35 years but they never paid attention to the exports,” Khan said.

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Citing a video clip of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in which he reportedly made some comments about Pakistan, Khan said this has happened only because a 'bunch of crooks' has been imposed on us.

"These crooks, led by Shehbaz, have destroyed the country's economy and now they are begging from the world for the struggling economy," Khan said.

His comments also came ahead of Prime Minister Sharif's two-day trip to the UAE on January 12-13. Pakistan Army chief General Asim Munir has just concluded his week-long visit to Saudi Arabia and the UAE - the two key supporters of Pakistan who come to its rescue when the chips are down.

Indirectly referring to the military establishment, Khan said his lawmakers and allied PML-Q are being forced to change their loyalty and join the PML-N of the Sharifs.

"I am told that a ‘red line' has been drawn on me and my party and I cannot return to power. I want to tell those (establishment) that they are foolish and don't know history, politics and the people of Pakistan. I will manage to erase that red line," he said.

"Today Pakistan has become a Banana Republic. Allah has made Jihad mandatory on us against these criminals in power. The moment we accept these criminals we will sign the death warrant of Pakistan,” Khan warned.

The powerful Army, which has ruled the coup-prone country for more than half of its 75 plus years of existence, has hitherto wielded considerable power in the matters of security and foreign policy.

Khan, the former cricketer-turned-politician, is the only Pakistani prime minister to be ousted in a no-confidence vote in Parliament.

He had alleged that the no-confidence vote was part of a US-led conspiracy targeting him because of his independent foreign policy decisions on Russia, China, and Afghanistan. The US has denied the allegations.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)