Musharraf says Pakistan should 'counter threat' India

WASHINGTON: Former President Pervez Musharraf on Saturday said that Pakistan should counter threat India, while calling on India to stop escalating tensions.

“India is threatening to strike us at their time which is a serious matter,” Musharraf said while speaking at Washington Ideas Forum.

The former military ruler claimed that India, not Pakistan,  is building the war hysteria and advised the Indian leadership to refrain from taking matters to the point of no return.

In a session moderated by senior host Robert Siegel, he said he will return back to Pakistan at the right time, despite the plethora of cases against him, as he was acting beyond himself and had no political ambitions.  Although the cases against him are politically motivated, he has no objection as long as his movement are not restricted.

He also spoke on the deteriorating relations between Pakistan and the United States, and said Pakistan was in thick and thin with US and fought wars with them including against the Soviets. He called on the need for strong relationship with the US, which can also affect ties with Afghanistan.

Musharraf said that there is an inherent weakness in the democracy which has not tailored in accordance with the dictates of the environment. There are no checks and balances in the democracy, and not even the constitution doesn’t  provides it, which sucks it into the socio-economic factors.

He admitted that the Army has played a political role in the governance of Pakistan, mainly due to the misgovernance of the so-called democratic governments.

Therefore, he said that “people of Pakistan love the Army, and demand a lot from the it.” The Army has a stature and he is proud of the fact that the Army has backed him due to his association with it for more than forty years.

Musharaf said that he returned to the country not due to the social media, but his vision to bring a change in the society. “I want to create a third-party coalition in the country,” he said. However, he was disappointed over the lack of popular support and coalition partners.

The former President is currently on tour of the United States, where he is expected to visit Capitol Hill, and meet several prominent leaders, and also interact with the Pakistani diaspora.