Search the Internet          Tips

Musharraf accuses India of destablising Pakistan

Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf said Pakistan will make sure that terrorism is not exported from its soil, but accused India of trying to destablise his country.

He also warned of taking the offensive into Indian territory should a war break out between the two countries.

"We will ensure that terrorism does not go from Pakistan anywhere outside into the world. That is our stand, and we adhere to it," Musharraf said in an interview to The Washington Post.

Accusing India of 'sponsoring terrorism within Pakistan, bullying its neighbours and provoking him with inflamed rhetoric', he said India has used massive border deployments and war threats in recent weeks 'to destabilise me, my government and Pakistan'.

"Should a war erupt between India and Pakistan, we will take the offensive into Indian territory," he said.

The Pakistan president rejected criticism that his government had retreated from pledges to crack down on Islamic radicals.

Musharraf, said the Post, declared that infiltration of militants into Kashmir has stopped, but 'he demanded an expansive response from New Delhi, including renewal of direct talks between the two countries'.

Musharraf said he knows 'a lot of people are having doubts' about his commitments to forswear Islamic radicalism as a tool of Pakistan's policy, but he said: "Let me assure you there is no backtracking."

The Post said the US and Britain have sought in recent days to ease the crisis through intensive diplomatic talks.

They have laid heavy pressure on Pakistan over its involvement in cross-border terrorism into Kashmir. "The infiltrations," said the Post, "are a decade-old problem that analysts say could not persist without direct aid from Pakistan's army and intelligence services."

Terrorism Strikes in Jammu: The complete coverage

Related Reports:
World must understand Pak mindset: India
We should have attacked Pak after Dec 13: PM
Pak tests Ghaznavi missile
Five killed in Pak shelling in Jammu

Back to top

Tell us what you think of this report