Nawaz Sharif Starts Forming New Pakistan Government

Sharif, who has sought to present himself as a pragmatist who can do business with the United States and improve relations with nuclear rival India, won a resounding victory in Saturday's landmark polls.
  
Sharif’s centre-right Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) is projected to win 130 of the 176 directly elected seats in the national assembly.
  
The outgoing Pakistan People's Party suffered a crushing defeat, collapsing from 125 to 33 seats, according to newspaper projections, but enough to emerge as the second largest party and likely to go into opposition.
 
Sharif will likely need only the estimated 27 independents and his proportion of seats reserved for women and minorities, to secure a majority in the first democratic transition in a country accustomed to long periods of military rule.
  
US President Barack Obama said Washington was ready to work with Islamabad "as equal partners" and welcomed the transition. India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said he hoped to chart "a new course" in relations.