By IANS,
New Delhi : India Wednesday said former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf’s reported remarks about Pakistan training militants against India in Kashmir confirmed what it has been saying all along and asked Islamabad to honour its commitment not to allow its territory for anti-India activities.
“This is a widely accepted fact and General Musharraf’s assertion only confirms the veracity of what we have been repeatedly saying over the years,” external affairs ministry spokesperson Vishnu Prakash told reporters here.
“This is precisely why India has sought a firm and abiding commitment from Pakistan that it will not allow its territory and territory under its control to be used for the aiding and abetting of terrorist activity directed against India and for providing sanctuary to such terrorist groups,” he says.
In a candid interview to German magazine Der Spiegel, Musharraf admitted that militant groups “were indeed formed” to fight India in Kashmir.
“It is the right of any country to promote its own interests… when India is not prepared to discuss Kashmir at the United Nations and is not prepared to resolve the dispute in a peaceful manner,” he said.
Islamabad was taken aback by Musharraf’s remarks. “I do not know really what prompted him (Musharraf) to say this because he’s not in Pakistan and I would not really know as to the purpose of saying this,” Pakistan Foreign Office Spokesman Abdul Basit was quoted as saying by a news channel.