Pervez Musharraf confirms India’s claim against Pakistan: MEA

India on Wednesday said former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf’s admission that his country was training terrorists to fight against India in Kashmir is what it had been saying over years.

Reacting to General Musharraf’s reported statement that Pakistan trained militant underground groups to fight against India in Kashmir, the official spokesperson of Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) stated that “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.

“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,” the MEA said.

Pakistan had trained terrorists to fight against India in Kashmir, former president of Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf, said in an interview to German weekly magazine Der Spiegel.

On why did Pakistan form militant underground groups to fight India in Kashmir, Musharraf, who recently launched a political party in London, told the magazine: “They were indeed formed. The government turned a blind eye because they wanted India to discuss Kashmir.”

When told that it was the Pakistani security forces that trained them (the terrorists), Musharraf said: “The West was ignoring the resolution of the Kashmir issue, which is the core issue of Pakistan. We expected the West — especially the United States and important countries like Germany — to resolve the Kashmir issue.”

Musharraf said the West blames Pakistan for everything but “nobody asks the Indian prime minister, why did you arm your country with a nuclear weapon?”

“Why are you killing innocent civilians in Kashmir? Nobody was bothered that Pakistan got split in 1971 because of India’s military backing for Bangladesh (which declared independence from Pakistan that year).”

Musharraf is living in the UK since he relinquished power in 2008.

The former military head of Pakistan was the tenth President of the country (2001?2008). He was the Chief of Army Staff of the Pakistan Army from 1998 to 2007.