India wants an 'anti-Pakistan' Afghanistan: Musharraf

'India must stop it. I would say that the US needs to understand Pakistan's sensitivities'.


Afp October 06, 2011

WASHINGTON: Pakistan's former president Pervez Musharraf charged Thursday that arch-rival India seeks to "create an anti-Pakistan Afghanistan" as part of a bid to dominate South Asia politically and economically.

Musharraf said Afghanistan sends its intelligence staff, diplomats and soldiers to India where they are "indoctrinated against Pakistan," something he said India must stop and the United States (US) should be concerned about.

"In Afghanistan, there is some kind of a proxy conflict going on between Pakistan and India," Musharraf told a leadership forum sponsored by the Atlantic media corporation.

"India is trying to create an anti-Pakistan Afghanistan."

It's ambition, he said, is to "have a weak Pakistan so that it can be dominated, so that it doesn't have any confrontationist attitude which doesn't go well with India's vision of dominating the region."

Musharraf said he understood that India does not seek to take over Pakistan militarily, but rather it wants to dominate Pakistan in the area of foreign policy, economic policy, trade and commerce.

"That is how you suppress, you control or dominate another country," according to the former army chief.

"Afghanistan's intelligence, Afghanistan's diplomats, Afghanistan's soldiers, all the army, security people, they all go to India for training," where they are "indoctrinated against Pakistan," he added.

While he was in power, he said he personally offered Afghanistan free training but "not one man has come to Pakistan for training."

He added: "India must stop it. I would say that the US needs to understand Pakistan's sensitivities. I see there is a lack of concern for Pakistan's sensitivities."

Musharraf spoke after Afghan President Hamid Karzai signed a "strategic partnership" with India on Tuesday.

The partnership -- the first such pact between Afghanistan and another country -- deepens already friendly Delhi-Kabul ties and aims to boost trade, security and cultural links between the countries.

COMMENTS (95)

Dr Kadar Khan FRCS. FACS | 12 years ago | Reply

You need history lessons Mush. If you care to look at it, you will realize Afghan have been proud, independent minded people who have not taken any sides ever or have been part of any self serving alliances or pacts for selfish purposes. Neither they have been accused of duplicity or pathological lying. You invented the term strategic depth which no one in Afghanistan are interested in. So please don't give credit to India for creating unfriendly Afghanistan as you can revisit your own failed policies on Afghanistan.The proud Afghans don't agree with your definition of 'friend'. A friend according to me is the one who builds roads, rails, hospitals and help improve the quality of life of ordinary Afghans and also helps with security, law and order and governance. Pakistan so far has done precious little in that respect. Many thanks Dr Kadar Khan FRCS

Waqui | 12 years ago | Reply

Compared to all in the last several decades Musharaff was better inspite of the huge pressure India and its cronies had piled up against him. An ordinary Pakistani was much safer then and economically much progressive. Yes, things were not perfect then, but much better during his tenure for Pakistan.

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