India, Pakistan lose due to confrontationist approach: Musharraf
By IANSTuesday, February 16, 2010
LONDON - India and Pakistan stand to gain through peace while “we are losing because of this confrontationist approach”, said former Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf, adding “we are considered a nuclear flashpoint”.
Speaking to CNN in its programme Connect the World, Musharraf said: “India-Pakistan peace is required from international point of view because internationally we are considered a nuclear flashpoint.”
“And it is important from bilateral point of view. There is so much to gain bilaterally by both India and Pakistan through peace, and so much that we are losing because of this confrontationist approach.”
On the state of affairs in Pakistan, Musharraf said: “If Pakistan is not doing well, every Pakistani, every patriotic Pakistani feels it in his heart. And I also do, that at this moment, Pakistan is not doing too well. So if I can contribute anything to the — to the country — and if the people of Pakistan want me to contribute, I certainly would like to look into that.”
On being asked whether he though Pakistan was failing at the moment, he admitted: “Yes. We haven’t succeeded. The politics in Pakistan, democracy in Pakistan has not really ever been very successful.
“And I mean successful, we expect democratically-elected governments to perform for the country, that the country should be moving forward progressing and the welfare and the well-being of the people being addressed. If that is not being done, I think we need to look into the — look into ourselves.”
On the Afghan strategy of appealing to moderate Taliban, he explained: “I have always believed that we have to follow a triple strategy of military, political and socioeconomic. On the political side, right from 2003 — 2002 and 2003, I’ve been saying that we need to win away the population, especially of the pashtuns from the Al Qaeda and Taliban.”
He stressed “We must not all treat all pashtuns to be Taliban, although all Taliban were pashtuns.”
“Now, what they really mean by moderate Taliban, I really don’t know. So we need to look into the pashtun, which is 50 percent of Afghanistan, to draw the pashtuns from the — from militancy.”
