General146;s brave front: No need to be 145;Indocentric146;

Keeping a brave face in the wake of refusal by President George W Bush to extend the historic Indo-US civil nuclear deal to Pakistan, Presid...

Keeping a brave face in the wake of refusal by President George W Bush to extend the historic Indo-US civil nuclear deal to Pakistan, President Pervez Musharraf has said everything should not be seen in an 8220;Indocentric8221; fashion. Agreeing with Bush in his assessment of dealing with the two countries as they have different interests, Musharraf said in an interview to CNN last night that he was aware of 8220;interests and nuances8221; in inter-state relations.

8220;8230;I8217;m a very strong believer that this tendency of being Indocentric in all relations doesn8217;t have a rationale. And I wouldn8217;t like to do that at all. Pakistan has its interests and the United States has its interests in Pakistan. We need to see that and we need to move forward on that track.

8220;And I think both of us move forward on the track, wherever there is mutual interest. And we don8217;t have to bother what they are doing with India,8221; he said when asked on the difference in Bush administration8217;s treatment of India and Pakistan on civilian nuclear energy cooperation.

Rejecting Pakistan8217;s demand for a civilian nuclear deal on the lines he clinched with India, Bush after his talks with Musharraf here on Saturday had said the two countries had different needs and different histories.

8220;I would tend to agree with him Bush. When we are dealing with two countries, the inter-state relations have different compunctions; they have different nuances. The relationship with India, who doesn8217;t know which side it is directed, and the relationship with Pakistan has a totally different nuance,8221; the Pakistani President said.

8220;8230; As far as the nuclear side is concerned, Pakistan really does not need much from the United States at all. What we need is nuclear energy. And we discussed that with him. And there was a very positive response from his side. So, our need, vis-a-vis, with the United States is totally different between 8212; as far as Indian needs with the United States are concerned,8221; he remarked.

Musharraf also maintained that the A Q Khan issue did not come up in the meeting with President Bush.

Story continues below this ad

8220;No, it didn8217;t come up during this talk. We already had spoken about it in the past, that we need to have some kind of an interrogation with him, which is mutually in a methodology which satisfied mutual concerns, and we are going forward on that, so there was no need of discussing it,8221; he said.

The Pakistani President also flayed his Afghan counterpart President Hamid Karzai, saying he was 8220;oblivious8221; to intelligence operations in his country and was 8220;unaware about a 8220;deliberate attempt8221; to malign his neighbour.

Musharraf8217;s comments come after criticism that Pakistan was not doing enough on intelligence provided by Afghanistan on the possible hideouts of TalFiban leader Mullah Omar.

8220;I am disappointed with their intelligence and I feel there is a deliberate attempt to malign Pakistan by some agents. Karzai is oblivious of what is happening in his own country,8221; Musharraf said.