Former president General (r) Pervez Muharraf has said that he has never asked Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Raheel Sharif to seek extension in his tenure.
In an interview with a private TV channel on Sunday, Musharraf said he was of the opinion that the army chief should continue running the office in the wake of ongoing situation.
He said after military operation against the extremists, peace was restored in Swat but later the Awami National Party (ANP)-led provincial government released Sufi Muhammad nabbed during the operation.
He said that being a patriot Pakistani citizens, he has deep love for the country and concerns over problems faced by country and its people.
The former president said that former Indian prime ministers Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh were sincere in resolving the longstanding Kashmir dispute, adding he supported mending relations with incumbent Indian PM Narendra Modi but confronting issues including Kashmir dispute should also be raised with him.
Musharraf said that despite the Kargil tragedy during his tenure talks with India were underway and Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service was launched.
He claimed that during his tenure issue of calling back of additional armed forces deployed at Line of Control (LoC) was settled with India and Manmohan Singh had accepted four-point agenda of Pakistan regarding Kashmir cause.
He blamed that PM Nawaz Sharif during his meeting with Indian counterpart Atal Bihari Vajpayee ignore the Kashmir issue. He dispelled the belief that Pakistan Army was not in favour of holding dialogues with India.
Pervez Musharraf said that during his rule all banned outfits were under control and government had kept complete check and hold over them.
He admitted that India has strong hold in Afghanistan and Afghan authorities have direct contact with Indian intelligence agency RAW. He condemned the dual nature of former Afghan ruler Hamid Karzai for wide difference in his vows and deeds.
The former President we should trace out the roots of terrorism for its elimination. He said investigation of Pathankot attack was in progress but shouldn’t avert our all attention towards it.
Musharraf alleged that there were solid evidences of Bramdagh Bugti’s contacts with RAW and several times Afghanistan for handing him over to Pakistan but Afghan intelligence turned deaf ears toward the demand.
He vowed for unification of all PML factions and actively participating in general election of 2018.
