Europe's breaches passing in silence: Musharraf's complaint on nuclear issue

At a breakfast meeting sponsored by the World Economic Forum, Gen Musharraf acknowledged Pakistan had pursued a secret nuclear weapons programme for 30 years that had no strict controls against leaks of technology.

“The possibility of individuals being involved is there… they are going against national policy,” he said, vowing to pursue a thorough inquiry into the matter. But he bemoaned that while Pakistan had been put in the world spotlight, “there are European countries involved” since the technology involved advanced metallurgy found largely in Europe.

“Nobody's talking, that's my concern,” he said. “Maybe we are the only country that is really going forward with an investigation. I don't know if it's happening in the other countries.”

Gen Musharraf said Pakistan had launched its nuclear weapons programme in 1974 after India tested a nuclear bomb. “It was covert, it was not open, it was not under strategic check and controls,” he said of his country's research.

As a result, he said, it provided opportunities for “some individual or individuals, unscrupulous, if they were out for personal gain selling national assets.”

President Musharraf insisted that there was little chance of Pakistan's nuclear technology falling into the wrong hands, because the programme was under “very strict custodial controls.”

“We have not left any stone unturned to ensure the security of all our efforts,” he said.

KASHMIR ISSUE: He said the Line of Control (LoC) “cannot be a solution to the Kashmir dispute” and both Pakistan and India will have to go beyond their stated positions to resolve this long-standing issue.

“LoC cannot be a solution, we have fought wars on it,” the president said, and posed a question: “How can a dispute be made a solution?” He said there was no question of any unilateral shift in Pakistan's position on the Kashmir issue.

Referring to his four-step approach towards the resolution of the dispute, President Musharraf said the first two – resuming dialogue and acceptance of Kashmir as an issue – have already taken place.

“Now is the question of moving forward,” the president said, adding that as a third step he had proposed eliminating things unacceptable to the parties concerned – India, Pakistan and the Kashmiri people.

He said the talk of solutions “can come up at a later stage.” The president said a good beginning “has been made” and the two sides “now need to start a composite dialogue to make progress.”

He said there were people with extreme positions on both sides and the leadership on both sides “have to show courage to stand up to the opposition by the minority.”

Responding to a question, the president said the talks between India and Pakistan this time were different from all the previous negotiations as “for the first time Kashmir has been accepted as a dispute.”

Referring to an agreement reached following his meeting with Indian Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee on the sidelines of the Saarc summit, he said there were three main points of agreement.

Firstly, he said, it was recognized that Kashmir was an issue and needed to be resolved. Secondly, the composite dialogue must start to address all outstanding issues, including Kashmir, and, thirdly, “Pakistan is a party to the dispute.”

“In all the past talks starting from Tashkent to Simla Declaration to Lahore Declaration, Kashmir was mentioned apologetically,” he said.

Responding to a question, Gen Musharraf said Pakistan had been making proposals of a nuclear-free South Asia and a no-war pact with India. He added that anything on this account “have to be on the basis of reciprocity.”

AFGHANISTAN: He called for the deployment of up to 30,000 international troops to keep peace in Afghanistan, nearly double the current number.

He said that Afghanistan had about a dozen centres of power run by warlords since the ouster of the Taliban more than two years ago.

“I feel there is a requirement for a force at each of these places,” he said. He said that “25,000 maximum, maybe 30,000, is enough to do militarily what I think needs to be done.”

The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan, now commanded by NATO, currently comprises some 6,000 men, while 10,500 US troops are still in the country following up their move to remove the Taliban.

The ISAF, created in December 2001, was first confined to Kabul but NATO authorized the expansion of its activities beyond the capital last month.

Gen Musharraf also urged accelerated efforts to raise a national army in Afghanistan to ultimately “take over the border and show a presence in the vacuum…so there is an exit strategy for the allied forces”.

The president said the military situation was improving gradually on the border where Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was believed to be holed up along with some of his men.

“They are obviously hiding and on the run,” Gen Musharraf said. “Al-Qaeda is not an organized body with good command and control.”

He said that although there was still the prospect of bombings and rocket attacks, the border situation presented no longer-term concern.

“There is no strategic threat possible of Al Qaeda and Taliban joining and occupying a certain area and establishing themselves and their own existence there,” Gen Musharraf said.

MISCONCEPTION: President Musharraf said the purpose of his visit was to try to remove misperceptions about Pakistan.

He said this was a misconception that whatever was happening across its eastern border with Afghanistan or in the occupied Kashmir originated from Pakistan.

This was also a misconception that Pakistan is an extremist and fundamentalist state. “The reality on the ground is different,” he said.

Replying to a question, the president said it was also a misperception that Taliban were Pakistan's creation. He said events inside Afghanistan led to their creation.

He said Pakistan had to have diplomatic relations with them as they were holding 90 per cent of the entire Afghan territory at the time.