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Afghanistan a 'playground' for India: Musharraf - The Times of India
LONDON: India is trying to create an anti-Pakistan Afghanistan which has been a "playing ground" for it and the Soviet Union, according to former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf.
Musharraf made the charge in the course of an interview on BBC's 'HARDTalk' programme during which he stated that he would return to Pakistan on March 23, 2012 even though he faces arrest in connection with the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.
During the hard-hitting half-an-hour programme, interviewer Stephen Sackur grilled 68-year-old Musharraf on his 9-year reign as Pakistan's ruler and by the time the interview was over, the former dictator's trademark bluster had vanished.
Excerpts from the interview:
Q: I just wonder, when we look at what happened in Pakistan during your years in power, we see a country that did sink into turmoil and chaos, as I say in America it became routinely labelled as the most dangerous country in the world. Now you were the military leader of Pakistan. It seems the most fundamental failure that you couldn't deliver security in your own country.
PM: Well, I think that label was given right in the early stages,..... I think there was lot of sectarian extremism, there was a lot of turmoil in Pakistan, which I controlled.
Q: You obviously didn't control things, if I may say so, not least because we now know the truth about certain things that happened while you were in power; for example, I am thinking of the obvious case of Osama bin Laden. We now know that from 05 or 06 when you of course were in power bin Laden was living within earshot of Pakistan's most prestigious military camp in Abbottabad. We know all that now, we know that you failed.
PM: On one incident if you think everything is a failure.....
Q: To quote Robert Gates, the former U.S. defence secretary, you played both sides, you signed up to a partnership with the United States in their so-called war on terror, at the very same time you didn't for one moment give up your ties to Islamist movements, including the Taliban.
LONDON: India is trying to create an anti-Pakistan Afghanistan which has been a "playing ground" for it and the Soviet Union, according to former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf.
Musharraf made the charge in the course of an interview on BBC's 'HARDTalk' programme during which he stated that he would return to Pakistan on March 23, 2012 even though he faces arrest in connection with the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.
During the hard-hitting half-an-hour programme, interviewer Stephen Sackur grilled 68-year-old Musharraf on his 9-year reign as Pakistan's ruler and by the time the interview was over, the former dictator's trademark bluster had vanished.
Excerpts from the interview:
Q: I just wonder, when we look at what happened in Pakistan during your years in power, we see a country that did sink into turmoil and chaos, as I say in America it became routinely labelled as the most dangerous country in the world. Now you were the military leader of Pakistan. It seems the most fundamental failure that you couldn't deliver security in your own country.
PM: Well, I think that label was given right in the early stages,..... I think there was lot of sectarian extremism, there was a lot of turmoil in Pakistan, which I controlled.
Q: You obviously didn't control things, if I may say so, not least because we now know the truth about certain things that happened while you were in power; for example, I am thinking of the obvious case of Osama bin Laden. We now know that from 05 or 06 when you of course were in power bin Laden was living within earshot of Pakistan's most prestigious military camp in Abbottabad. We know all that now, we know that you failed.
PM: On one incident if you think everything is a failure.....
Q: To quote Robert Gates, the former U.S. defence secretary, you played both sides, you signed up to a partnership with the United States in their so-called war on terror, at the very same time you didn't for one moment give up your ties to Islamist movements, including the Taliban.
