Accusing India of trying to create an "anti-Pakistan Afghanistan", ex-Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has said India is seeking to increase its influence in the war-torn country with the sole purpose of "troubling" Islamabad.
"India-Afghan relations are bothering Pakistan. I personally feel India is trying to create an anti-Pakistan Afghanistan and I have tremendous intelligence from my own time to prove this. I know it," Musharraf said during a talk at American think tank 'Council on Foreign Relations' here.
"If this is happening in our backyard, if somebody is stabbing us in the back, then we have to make some arrangements," he said.
He said with the US forces readying to leave Afghanistan in 2014, Pakistan is interested to "safeguard" itself from the fallout of what happens in the country post-2014.
"I would like to ask the question why does India want influence in Afghanistan. Do they want to stretch out to Central Asian republics, is this some action against China? What is their (India's) requirement (to have influence in Afghanistan). The requirement is to trouble Pakistan," Musharraf said.
The former Pakistani military ruler said Islamabad can help Kabul in its fight against the Taliban because Pakistan has been helping Afghanistan since the time it was fighting the Soviets in the 1980s.
"If India is trying to influence there (Afghanistan) using a minority which is anti-Pakistan, how does Pakistan fend for itself... If President (Hamid) Karzai and Afghanistan find it suitable to have a strategic agreement with India, then what do you expect from Pakistan?"
Musharraf, who is planning a political comeback, said India teaming up with Afghanistan "is nothing new".
Right from Pakistan's birth in 1947, Afghanistan has been in the "eastern camp" under the influence of the Soviet Union and India, he claimed.
Musharraf accused Indian and Soviet intelligence agencies -- RAW and the KGB -- of being "in league" with the Afghan security unit Khad and "always troubling Pakistan."
He said Pakistan wants a stable Afghanistan, and while it does not want to interfere in Kabul's affairs, "we don't want any (other) outside interference" either.
He said he had repeatedly told Karzai to send his intelligence and security personnel, diplomats and army officials to Pakistan for training but they instead go to India.
"India-Afghan relations are bothering Pakistan. I personally feel India is trying to create an anti-Pakistan Afghanistan and I have tremendous intelligence from my own time to prove this. I know it," Musharraf said during a talk at American think tank 'Council on Foreign Relations' here.
"If this is happening in our backyard, if somebody is stabbing us in the back, then we have to make some arrangements," he said.
He said with the US forces readying to leave Afghanistan in 2014, Pakistan is interested to "safeguard" itself from the fallout of what happens in the country post-2014.
"I would like to ask the question why does India want influence in Afghanistan. Do they want to stretch out to Central Asian republics, is this some action against China? What is their (India's) requirement (to have influence in Afghanistan). The requirement is to trouble Pakistan," Musharraf said.
The former Pakistani military ruler said Islamabad can help Kabul in its fight against the Taliban because Pakistan has been helping Afghanistan since the time it was fighting the Soviets in the 1980s.
"If India is trying to influence there (Afghanistan) using a minority which is anti-Pakistan, how does Pakistan fend for itself... If President (Hamid) Karzai and Afghanistan find it suitable to have a strategic agreement with India, then what do you expect from Pakistan?"
Musharraf, who is planning a political comeback, said India teaming up with Afghanistan "is nothing new".
Right from Pakistan's birth in 1947, Afghanistan has been in the "eastern camp" under the influence of the Soviet Union and India, he claimed.
Musharraf accused Indian and Soviet intelligence agencies -- RAW and the KGB -- of being "in league" with the Afghan security unit Khad and "always troubling Pakistan."
He said Pakistan wants a stable Afghanistan, and while it does not want to interfere in Kabul's affairs, "we don't want any (other) outside interference" either.
He said he had repeatedly told Karzai to send his intelligence and security personnel, diplomats and army officials to Pakistan for training but they instead go to India.
0 comments:
Post a Comment