Press conference by President of Pakistan

 

Pakistan and India must resolve their long-standing dispute over Kashmir in order to normalize relations between the two countries, President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan told correspondents during a press conference at United Nations Headquarters this afternoon.

“How can any confidence or any normalization take place without addressing the issue on which we have fought three wars and a number of skirmishes”? he asked.  “We are two angry countries.  Let’s resolve the cause of that anger and only then can we proceed on normalization everywhere.”

Speaking one day before a scheduled meeting with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, General Musharraf said, “We have waited too long and damaged each other too long.  The time to heal wounds is now and the faster the better.  I look forward to a constructive dialogue, and, more than that, I look forward to developing an understanding between ourselves.”

He stressed the need to adopt a realistic approach that would move confidence-building measures and the dialogue process in tandem.  It was time for the two countries to abandon the maximalist approaches they had taken in the dispute over Kashmir.

“If you follow rigid lines they never lead to peace”, he said.  “Both Pakistan and India need to show flexibility and need to reverse from their maximalist positions.”

He further stressed that any resolution to the conflict must have the acceptance not only of India and Pakistan, but also of the people of Kashmir.  “No solution is possible without the people of Kashmir accepting that solution”, he said.  “I want to convey to the people of Kashmir:  We will never let them down.  They will always be a part of the final solution.”

Finally, responding to a question about the challenge of getting Hindus and Muslims to coexist peacefully, he said Kashmir was not a religious dispute.  There were Hindus in Pakistan and Muslims in India.  “Let’s not create rifts there.  There are already too many problems.”  Kashmir was a political dispute, not a religious one.  It was a political dispute that needed to be resolved amicably.

Addressing a question on when he planned to step down from his role as chief of the army, General Musharraf highlighted the advances towards democracy that Pakistan had achieved under his leadership.  He said he would like to ask the world to look at democracy in Pakistan, what he had done for democracy in Pakistan.  “I think we have introduced sustainable democracy in Pakistan”, he said, adding that there had been significant improvements in the area of human rights, freedom of speech and expression, and the empowerment of women.

He noted that while there had previously been only one state-run television network, there were presently dozens of independent television channels.  A local government system had been introduced; some 40,000 women were in positions of political authority; and women now made up 22 per cent of the National Assembly.

He added that the sustainability of such democratic institutions, as well as continuity in the anti-terrorist campaign, in the rapprochement with India, and in the societal change currently under way in Pakistan, perhaps required a “unity of authority”.

General Musharraf also addressed principal issues before the General Assembly, which he noted was opening at a particularly critical time with disturbing conditions and violence prevailing in many parts of the world, the continuing threat of terrorism, and the ongoing debate over the restructuring of the Security Council.  Pakistan happened to be at centre stage, being directly or indirectly involved with all those issues, and he reiterated his country’s desire for peace.  “Pakistan stands for peace, stability in our region and in the world, and we are taking all possible measures to resolve all our disputes in a peaceful manner, with sovereign equality of all nations to be guaranteed.”

Asked about troop contribution to Iraq, General Musharraf said the environment had not been conducive for Pakistan and other Muslim nations to contribute troops.  “As far as Pakistan is concerned, our domestic environment is not conducive.  It continues to not be conducive.  We cannot be seen as an extension of the present forces there, which are considered to be occupation forces.  So our going there now would be totally counterproductive”, he said.

On Security Council reform, General Musharraf said Pakistan did not favour expanding the permanent members of the Security Council who enjoyed special privileges, but instead proposed expansion of its non-permanent members as a better solution for increasing participation in the Council.

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