Pak army ‘caught India by throat’ during Kargil war: Musharraf

Musharraf said Pakistani armed forces had won the Kargil battle in 1999 but the then Nawaz Sharif-led government converted the success into a political defeat.

Pakistan’s former military ruler General Pervez Musharraf has once again raked up the Kargil conflict masterminded by him, claiming that his armed forces had caught India “by the throat”.

He also claimed that the Pakistani armed forces had won the Kargil battle in 1999 but the then Nawaz Sharif-led government converted the success into a political defeat.

“I don’t think India would ever be able to forget the three-month-long battle (Kargil war) when our gallant armed forces caught them by the throat,” Musharraf said yesterday while addressing a convention of the youth wing of his party, the All Pakistan Muslim League (APML).

He said that the Pakistani armed forces had caught their Indian counterparts by surprise in Kargil.

71-year-old Musharraf, who is facing several court cases and is presently based in Karachi, said the Pakistan Army along with the second-line force had entered Kargil district of Kashmir and seized strategic positions at five locations, four of which were not even known to the Indian forces.

“I can say it was our greatest military victory over India as they couldn’t even claim back half of one strategic location in one area but regrettably our politicians wasted this opportunity,” he said.

Musharraf also backed recent claims by some Pakistan government ministers and the military that the India’s external intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) was involved in the unrest in Balochistan and Karachi.

Indian missions in Afghanistan are functioning as training headquarters of terrorists, the evidence of which has been provided to the Afghan government, Musharraf claimed. India has denied all such claims.

Musharraf also criticised the present PML-N government led by Prime Minister Sharif, saying its bad governance had created more crises in the country despite it being full of natural resources and hard-working people.

Musharraf also asked what a democratic government had given to the people since his departure as President in 2008.

The people just want peace and prosperity and accountability of corrupt politicians which is missing now, he said.

Musharraf announced that the APML will participate in the upcoming local body polls as well as general elections, especially in Gilgit-Baltistan.

Source:: Indian Express