"Pak must get rid of its India-obsession"

Q: Why have you launched a crusade against the construction of the Kalabagh dam?

A: Three of the four federating units are opposed to it. Water is a sensitive matter and the water issues should be decided through consensus. The PM promised to consult smaller provinces on this issue but then went ahead and announced the construction of the Kalabagh dam. This move has created political division within the country. Secondly, we don’t have the money to build the dam. If he doesn’t have the moneyand the dam is not going to be built, why divide the nation at this point ? It was foolish of Nawaz Sharif to make such an announcement.

Q: Then why has Sharif announced the construction of the dam ? From what you say it seems illogical that he would make that announcement.?

A: I think Nawaz Sharif is insecure. He has mucked up the economy. He made a lot of promises to people that if Benazir goes things will happen. This hasn’t come about. In my time there were fifteen issues in the Karachi Stock Exchange in one year alone. Since Sharif came to power there has been one. Our economy is in very serious trouble. The nuclear blast for him was a cover.

Q: You say your party is a liberal party but in your second stint you took a U-turn on relations with India. When you were PM in 1988, relations with India were at their best. But in 1993, they were at their worst.

A: When Rajiv Gandhi was PM, we had very good relations with India. We signed the first nuclear confidence building measure, thenon-attack on nuclear facilities agreement. But that was followed by my government being thrown out and Nawaz Sharif coming to power. By the time I came back to power, the situation in Kashmir had become very ugly. I thought it was important to put India on the defensive. It was partly because of our policies that India had to replace the government in Kashmir. I felt that India should have been kept on the defensive. It is my view that one reason why India detonated was because of Sharif’s policy of appeasement which gave Indian leaders the wrong idea. Now it is very important for us to talk to each other. I have proposed a no-first strike agreement. Pakistan should free itself of its obsession with India and initiate talks unilaterally on the CTBT. I think that nuclear parity compels India and Pakistan to sit across the table and talk to each other.