India agreed to discuss Kashmir only due to Kargil: Musharraf

New Delhi, July 24 (PTI) Terming Kargil as a "big
success", former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has said
India agreed to discuss Kashmir only because of that war in
1999.

"Yes, indeed, it was a big success because it had (an)
impact even on the attitudes of the Indian side. How did we
start discussing the Kashmir dispute? How was it that the
Indians agreed that we will discuss Kashmir and there must be
a negotiated settlement? Before this there was no such thing
at all," Musharraf said in an interview to Karan Thapar in his
Devil's Advocate programme.

Making a strong defence of the controversial Kargil
Operation, he said before that "Kashmir couldn't be spoken.
Kashmir must not be mentioned even in United Nation's speeches
by our leaders. This was the Indian side. (So) how did the
Indians come on the negotiating table on Kashmir?"

On being asked whether he would repeat the Kargil
Operation, knowing that it ended up raising question marks
about him personally, Musharraf replied: "I don't want to
comment".

He also accepted that forces from the Pakistani Army's
Rawalpindi Corps and Force Command Northern Areas were
involved in the Kargil Operation – contradictory to the
country's earlier claim that Kargil was conducted by alleged
freedom fighters and the army was not involved.

As written in his book "In the Line of Fire", he said,
they were "second line forces" but accepted they were
commanded by the army's Rawalpindi Corps and FCNA.

"What I have written is final. I am not going to get into
the details at all," Musharraf said.

Claiming the Kargil Operation ended with Pakistani forces
in a "very favourable" position, he said "Because if you are
talking about India-Pakistan, Indians had moved all their
forces against Kargil and there was (as a result) weakness
elsewhere.

"So we knew what the Indian forces are capable (of)
and what we are capable (of)...the situation was very
favourable in Kargil, in Kashmir and on the entire border. We
were capable of responding to any Indian action," he said.

Asked why he left the decision to Nawaz Sharif and didn't
argue against a ceasefire, he said, "One, there was a ground
military position, the other is that there was a lot happening
internationally. Internationally there was the United States
element putting a lot of pressure on the government to stop or
whatever.

"And then there was the (domestic) political pressure.
Whether the political situation was good enough to sustain
that pressure. I, therefore, decided to only talk of the
military (situation)," he said.

The former president said even though his decision to
dismiss the Chief Justice was absolutely constitutional and
legal, the handling of the situation was "shabby".

"I don't blame myself because I don't get into the
nitty gritty of which Deputy Superintendent of Police was rude
to him, some cars were taken (away) or something of that sort.
Now I am not passing such orders at all," Musharraf said.

Questioned about reports that he had a secret
understanding with the late PPP leader Benazir Bhutto which
facilitated her return to Pakistan in October, 2007, he
admitted for the first time that there was "an understanding".

He claimed that if Benazir had lived to be prime
minister he would still be president of Pakistan today. "There
was an understanding. I did talk to her, yes. I had been
talking to her twice. She was not supposed to come back before
the elections," he said.

Commenting on the political situation in Pakistan,
Musharraf agreed that it has become a more complicated country
today. "Yes it has. A lot of complications (are there) –
political, economic and law and order," he said, adding the
Asif Ali Zardari government was much weaker.

Musharraf also agreed with US President Barack Obama's
comment that Zardari's government was fragile and unable to
deliver services effectively to the people.

"At the moment yes. That is correct. That is
happening," he said. PTI SPC
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