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India slams Musharraf's Kargil comments
June 15, 2003 01:15 IST
India on Saturday voiced 'distress' over President Pervez Musharraf's comments on Kargil and said it implied that 'military adventurism' was a legitimate instrument for Islamabad's designs on Jammu and Kashmir
A Ministry of External Affairs spokesman said such a 'signal of non-peaceful intent' cannot take Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's peace initiative forward.
He added the Pakistani leadership will be judged by the steps it takes to end cross-border infiltration and dismantle the terrorist infrastructure there.
India's sharp reaction came in response to Musharraf's interview to NDTV.
Refusing to accept that the Kargil war had been against Pakistan's self-interest and was a mistake, Musharraf said, "Kargil was a decision taken by the Mujahideen, and we got involved because of the action taken by the Indian troops."
Musharraf refused to commit himself to avoiding Kargil-like situations in the future and said, "To avoid Kargils, we need to resolve disputes and much depends on how we proceed on the peace track and how things develop."
The spokesman said the important first steps that have been taken needed to be carefully nurtured and built upon through further action in ending infiltration and terrorism so that the two countries could progressively move towards a dialogue.
"This required restraint and maturity in addressing sensitive issues in India-Pakistan relations," he said.
The spokesman also termed as 'unfortunate' that Musharraf has totally denied the significance and impact of the universally acknowledged success of the election in Jammu and Kashmir. "Facts cannot be wished away by denials," he said.
Observing that Musharraf has himself referred to the lack of trust between the two countries, he said it was clear that the first step should be expanding economic and cultural cooperation, and people-to-people contact so as to generate an atmosphere of understanding, trust and confidence.
"His dismissal of the importance of these steps only shows the vicious circle in which India-Pakistan relations have got trapped," the spokesman said.
India, the spokesman said, would continue with its recent efforts, which have also found a tremendous resonance among the people and civil society in Pakistan.
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Number of User Comments: 12
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Sub: Pak should Accept Defeat or Ready to face it's Fate
No Doubt Mr.Musharraf Playing Double Game and try to Cover His Face in the name of Kashmiri Blanket, There are two way pakistan should Travel ...
Posted by Raghu
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Sub: lets wait and see
Our fanatic neighbours will force many more Kargils which will lead to bigger conflicts. Peace talks are official breaks for the armed forces on both ...
Posted by Dhruva Awchat
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Sub: Learning from mistakes?
Musharraf's comments amount to an admission of Pakistan's involvement in Kargil. At the same time he refuses to accept it as a mistake. There is ...
Posted by Amit Bhatnagar
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Sub: India and its drama of peace
Sir, Since US announced the road map for J& K, both India and Pakistan started to solve J & K problem. As it is clear ...
Posted by Sunilkulkarni
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Sub: Musharraf is BULLSHIT!
Well I only want to say that Musharraf is a foolish person who doesnt want to accept the realty in Kashmir and accept the free ...
Posted by Akhil Dogra
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