LONDON – Former President and Army Chief General (retd.) Pervez Musharraf has said that he would have been counter-threatening India in response to its unprovoked aggression along the Line of Control (LoC) or what Indian DGMO called a surgical strike in Azad Kashmir.
Speaking at the Washington Ideas Forum, Musharraf said “I would be counter-threatening India,” when host Robert Siegel asked “If you were in-charge, what would be the appropriate response” to the Indian claims of an attack on Pakistani side of Kashmir.
The former COAS further added: “…they are threatening us that they are going to strike us at the time and place of their choosing. Now, this has been said by nobody less than Prime Minister, defence minister and the director general of military operations. This is a very serious matter.”
He went on to say that Pakistan would also attack India at the time and place of their choosing, while referring to the statement of Indian Defense Manohar Parrikar in which vowed to target Pakistan to avenge the Pathankot attack.
“I think the war hysteria that is being created in India, I repeat, India, not in Pakistan, is an issue. They do that always. This is not the only time. Every time they do that,” Musharraf said.
He said India should realize that Pakistan was not Bhutan and blaming Pakistan after every single incident would not help India.
Answering a question, the former military commander also accused the United States of using Pakistan for its interests. The US afterwards “ditched” Pakistan, he added.
About 2011 Abbottabad raid which killed al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden musharraf said that he was still doubtful of Bin Laden’s continuous presence in the town. He insisted that Pakistani government and the intelligence agencies were not sheltering Bin Laden at the compound.
“Maybe he was going and coming, I still believe that. And if he was there in one of the — in one of the public gatherings where I was being grilled on this aspect, I finally said that the man living for five years in one room with three wives and 18 children, I think he must have rang up CIA himself and declared that he’s there,” he said.
To a question about his trial in the high treason case and his possible return to Pakistan, he said: “I’m not that foolhardy. So therefore…I would like to see that the cases are to a degree at a level where my movements are not restricted, the cases can continue, I’ll face them.”
When asked about the future of democracy in Pakistan, former President said that democracy was an ineffective system for Pakistan as there were no checks and balances in the system and to counter such failures army had to act because people of Pakistan expected too much good from military.
“So, therefore, we have to maybe tailor the political structure in accordance with the dictates of Pakistan, introduce checks and balances so that misgovernance does not take place and the army does not have to come into politics,” he said.
Watch Full Interview Here:
