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India should pull out troops from J&K: Iâll fight terrorists instead, says Musharraf
President Pervez Musharraf has offered to join Indiaâs âfight against terrorismâ in Jammu and Kashmir if New Delhi agrees to pull out troops from Srinagar, Kupwara and Baramulla, the Press Trust of India reported.Pulling COIN troops from the terrorist infested areas and entry points along the LOC? In his chat to Karan Thapar for CNN/IBN TV news channel, President Musharraf said he was disappointed at the lack of progress in the peace process and complained that there was ânot muchâ response from India to the ideas proposed by him for the resolution of the Kashmir issue. He declined that some of his top commanders do not back his peace initiatives with India, saying he would âthrow outâ any corps commander if he declined to obey his orders or opposed them. âLet me tell you, this is not a banana republic army. It is an army that fought wars. It is an extremely disciplined army. It is totally loyal and committed to me. I know that,â he said in the interview to be telecast tomorrow. The president said he would invite Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to watch one of the India-Pakistan cricket matches in order to take the peace process between the two countries forward. âLet me say I would like to invite him to Pakistan to watch any part of the series,â Musharraf said. He said the Indian prime minister was due to visit Pakistan. âHe is supposed to visit us. He said so in New York (last year when they met in September at the UN) and he has not come yet,â he told Thapar. Musharraf added any such visit by Singh should be productive and take the peace process forward. âI do not mind inviting him at all. I want the peace process to move forward. If he comes here and we do nothing about the peace process, I am afraid we are wasting our time.â Musharrafâs comments follow remarks by Pakistan Foreign Office Spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam that Pakistan would invite Singh if he wished to watch one of the matches. âOn its part Islamabad would welcome a visit by Singh. If the prime minister wishes to come, an invitation will be extended,â she said two days ago. online Posted by: john 2006-01-08 |
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