The Hindu : We defeated 'enemy' without a war: Musharraf

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Dec 14, 2002

International

International

We defeated 'enemy' without a war: Musharraf

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD Dec. 13. The Pakistan President, Pervez Musharraf, has claimed that his country's armed forces had earned the distinction of "defeating the enemy without fighting a war" in the recent escalation of tensions between India and Pakistan.

Speaking at the conclusion of a two-day reunion ceremony at the Artillery Regimental Centre at Attock town on Thursday, Gen. Musharraf maintained that India had "wasted" Rs. 8 billion on the troop mobilisation as it failed to achieve its "objectives". After having failed in its "nefarious designs" and having achieved nothing, the Indian army was now going back from the borders with its morale at its lowest. He talked about reports in the Indian media about "mutiny" by jawans against seniors in many of their units.

Gen. Musharraf said it was faith in Allah, the courage of the Pakistani armed forces and its conventional deterrence that helped the country face the crisis triggered by the Indian troop mobilisation.

He alleged that India tried to take advantage of the events of September 11, which were followed by an attack on the Indian Parliament last December, to put pressure on the Pakistani military by amassing its troops on the border and the Line of control, and, internationally, to scuttle the Kashmir issue.

Pakistan, he said, did not succumb to this pressure "as our intentions were good and our armed forces and the people had the courage and determination to face the situation bravely". Gen. Musharraf praised what he termed as the resolve of Pakistan's armed forces that braved adversity and inhospitable conditions "earning the unique distinction of defeating the enemy without fighting a war".

Gen. Musharraf said that even when the Indian pressure was on, he had categorically stated that if anybody tried to cross the Line of Control, "he would be eliminated". It had been made clear to the "enemy" in unequivocal terms that the Pakistani armed forces were fully capable of deterring any aggression.

On the domestic front, Gen. Musharraf claimed that in the three years following the events of October 1999 (coup), the country through sheer hard work and honesty, had been pulled out of the "morass it had descended into". The national exchequer now had adequate resources and after a long time an opportunity had arisen to improve the living standard of the poor and banish poverty.

He said that the country was now out of the external and internal crises it had been facing in the past, and was set to tread the path of development. It was now the duty of the elected government to take the process forward and launch projects which would benefit the poor.

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