Yes we trained militant groups against India, admits Musharraf

Lalit K Jha
Washington, Oct 5 (PTI) Former military ruler Pervez
Musharraf has admitted that Pakistan had trained underground
militant groups to fight in Kashmir, the first such admission
by a top leader of the country.
Musharraf's candid remarks came days after he
announced his return to active politics from London where he
has been living in self-imposed exile.
"They (underground militant groups to fight against
India in Kashmir) were indeed formed," Musharraf told German
magazine Der Spiegel in an interview.
Asked why did Pakistan train militant underground
groups to fight India in Kashmir, the former President said
Nawaz Sharif's apathy to the Kashmir issue was one of the
reasons, so was the fact that the world had turned a blind eye
to the dispute.
"Yes, it is the right of any country to promote its
own interests... when India is not prepared to discuss Kashmir
at the United Nations and is not prepared to resolve the
dispute in a peaceful manner," Musharraf claimed.
"The (Nawaz Sharif) government turned a blind eye
because they wanted India to discuss Kashmir," he said.
Musharraf indicated he had no regrets for the Kargil
intrusion, that led to an armed conflict with India in 1999,
and argued that each country had a right to promote its
national interest.
Musharraf slammed the international community,
particularly the West, for persistently ignoring the Kashmir
issue, and for singling out Pakistan for all blames.
"The West was ignoring the resolution of the Kashmir
issue, which is the core issue of Pakistan. We expected the
West -- especially the United States and important countries
like Germany -- to resolve the Kashmir issue. Has Germany done
that?" the former Pakistan military ruler asked.
Musharraf launched his political party the All
Pakistan Muslim League in London and announced his intention
to contest the 2013 election.
"The West blames Pakistan for everything. Nobody asks
the Indian prime minister, why did you arm your country with a
nuclear weapon? Why are you killing innocent civilians in
Kashmir? Nobody was bothered that Pakistan got split in 1971
because of India's military backing for Bangladesh. The United
States and Germany gave statements, but they didn't mean
anything," he said.
Musharraf, who overthrew Sharif's government in a
bloodless coup in 1999, had also as Army chief presided over
the Kargil misadventure that had threatened to scale up into a
full-fledged war between India and Pakistan.(MORE) PTI