Nawaz takes stock as PML-N leaders gather in London.

LONDON -- Breaking his silence for the first time after his party faced a major political blow in Punjab following Parvez Elahi's victory in a vote of confidence shortly before the dissolution of the provincial assembly, PML-N supreme leader Nawaz Sharif said 'a cruel joke had been played on Pakistan... for the sake of personal gains'.

Speaking to reporters after meeting with a delegation of senior PML-N leaders from Pakistan, he said: 'We all discussed the situation in Pakistan. Pakistan will come out of this difficult situation and we will be the ones to take the country out of it.'

When asked if he held former army chief retired Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa and former spymaster Gen Faiz Hamid responsible for the state of the country, he said: 'The reality is before everyone. Now no name or face is hidden. Pakistan was used for personal gain. It was a cruel joke played on the...