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India making 'colossal mistake' talking to Musharraf: Bhutto

Former Pakistani premier Benazir Bhutto said that India was making a 'colossal mistake' if it believed that Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf was going to play the peace card at the Agra summit.

She also warned of a 'backlash' after it as he lacked the mandate to represent the country.

"This entire visit is geared to take pressure off from Afghanistan," Bhutto told Karan Thapar on BBC's Hardtalk Pakistan programme.

Bhutto added that there was a backlash when Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee undertook the Lahore initiative in February 1999.

Cautioning India that any agreement reached during the summit would be 'with a dictator', Bhutto said Musharraf lacked the mandate to represent the country.

The 48-year-old Bhutto said that even the Pakistan army could turn around tomorrow and contend that Musharraf was a retired man and had no mandate.

"Key elements within our population will say that too," she added.

Stating that Musharraf's visit to India was a 'tactical move' by him, Bhutto said army generals in power in Pakistan were under pressure from the US.

Describing Musharraf as a 'de-facto president', she said that the Pakistani military ruler had not consulted her party before assuming office.

The former premier, however, felt that Musharraf was 'better dictator' than former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, who is currently in Saudi Arabia.

"Nawaz Sharif was a more brutal fascist than Musharraf," she said.

Asked by Thapar for a solution to the Kashmir issue, Bhutto said she continued to favour a plebiscite.

The former premier said she was confident of returning to power if elections were held in Pakistan since her Pakistan People's Party had steadily made political gains in the last two years.

PTI

Indo-Pak Summit 2001: The Complete Coverage

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