Pak wants peace, India must lead: Musharraf

Former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf on Saturday said that the Pakistan Army, widely seen as anti-India, was in favour of resolving the Kashmir issue, “the root cause of dispute”, and stressed that New Delhi should take the lead in creating peace between the two neighbours.

Pushing for a new beginning in relations with India, Musharraf, who now shuttles between Dubai and London, stressed that resolving the disputes over the Siachen Glacier and Sir Creek marshlands, were “doable” and added that the right niyat (intention) was needed to solve these issues.

“The festering wounds of Kashmir continue. We need to resolve the long-standing disputes. These are the causes of hatred, conflict and war,” Musharraf said while delivering the lecture “Uniting South Asia: The Way Forward” here.

These disputes, which spawn religious fundamentalism, need to be resolved for socio-economic development of both countries, said Musharraf, who didn’t mention 26/11 attack even once in his long speech.

Alluding to his four-point formula for resolving the Kashmir issue, that has seemingly been put in cold storage by his successor civilian administration, Musharraf stressed that this roadmap was still the best way forward. The formula included, among other things, gradual demilitarisation along the Line of Control (LoC), giving maximum self-governance to the two halves of Kashmir, making LoC irrelevant by opening as many routes along the border as possible.