NEW DELHI, June 6: Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif has lauded the smooth transfer of power in India and said he was working with ex-premier Benazir Bhutto to help an 'uprising' against President Gen Pervez Musharraf , the Indian Express said on Sunday.

The newspaper, which interviewed Mr Sharif in Jeddah, described him as living in exile in a lonely palace in the port city of the Red Sea. "I really admire the beauty of Indian democracy," Mr Sharif said.

"One prime minister is voted out and he quietly leaves without a fuss while another moves into the house. You have a Muslim president and a Sikh prime minister. Your democracy has grown and deepened. You should be proud of your democracy."

Mr Sharif offered an interpretation for Congress President Sonia Gandhi's decision not to accept the prime ministership. "It was a master stroke. She has paved the way for her children, either Priyanka or Rahul, to one day become prime minister."

Huge photos of Mr Sharif with King Fahd and Crown Prince Abdullah adorn his walls. A snappy fleet of Pajeros snarls in the long curving driveway. The palace is huge, with about 10 bedrooms in each of the villas; the entire Sharif family, including his 84-year-old father and brother Shahbaz, had been living here for the past three-and-a-half years, the newspaper said.

Asked if he missed the Subcontinent, Mr Sharif said: "I remember my old friend Atal Behari Vajpayee. A sincere and good man. A well-meaning man and we shared a genuine rapport.

I want to tell you that Vajpayee and I had planned 1999 as a year of peace. But it was not to be. If I had stayed on for another year, we would have solved everything. Vajpayee and I would have resolved Kashmir. But Musharraf betrayed me; he betrayed Vajpayee as well as me."

Mr Sharif described how he spent 14 months in solitary confinement in Attock jail, but had since recovered his spirits, according to the report. He and his family has started a steel mill in Jeddah, part of his Ittefaq Group of Industries. The Jeddah unit employs about 300 people and is looked after by his eldest son Hussain.

Mr Sharif admitted that he had put on weight 'although I work out on the treadmill everyday for an hour. For recreation, I read or watch old Hindi movies. I like the black and white ones best, the new Bollywood ones are terribly vulgar'.

Will he return to Pakistan soon? He was asked. "Of course, I will. There will be an uprising against Musharraf. His popularity is at an all-time low. Benazir and I may find a common agenda to restore democracy. We talk to each other often. Musharraf says the opposition is being run from Dubai and Jeddah, and guess what- he's right."

Mr Sharif was critical of Washington's support for President Musharraf. "Tell me, why is America supporting a military dictator? I don't understand! And after the recent American outrage, even people like me and Benazir, liberal and progressive people are feeling angry at America. And if a liberal like me is angry, can you imagine what the others feel?"

The ex-premier wants greater people-to-people contact, which Mr Sharif said he had discussed in Lahore with Mr Vajpayee. He conveyed a message to Indian Tourism Minister Renuka Choudhary to promote the cause.

"I want to tell her to promote Subcontinental tourism. Not just Indian. She should have package tours to the Indus Valley and Taxila from India. Promote Pakistani tourism in India. When Vajpayee and I talked, we said there would be no visa restrictions between our two countries. None."