Search the Internet          Tips

Musharraf's lack of mandate will dent any Agra accord: Benazir

Former Pakistan prime minister Benazir Bhutto said Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf's lack of mandate at home would be a major impediment in any Agra accord providing the same strength and durability of the Simla agreement.

"The Simla agreement's strength lay in that it was an agreement between two democratically elected leaders. They had a mandate and they used it effectively. Musharraf's lack of mandate is the major impediment in the Agra Summit providing the strength and durability of Simla," she said in an article published on Monday in Pakistan newspaper The Nation.

The former prime minister, who is in self-exile abroad, said Musharraf arrived in New Delhi on July 14 to a 'resplendent red carpet welcome'.

"He tried not to smile," which, she said, reminded her of her father's words when she went along with him to Chandigarh for talks on the Simla Agreement in 1972.

"Do not smile. Remember our soldiers who died and are imprisoned. And do not look grim, otherwise the press will say that the talks are doomed, my father said," wrote Benazir.

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto chose to wear a suit while going to India, as he knew that a sherwani, which Musharraf wore, would 'flap' in the wind, she said.

"The sherwani flapped in the wind as the general tried to inspect the guard of honour. The awkwardness of the flapping sherwani summed up the awkward arrival," she wrote.

"There was the Indian military presenting a guard of honour to a man who started a war in which so many of their colleagues died. In turn, the general saluting those who fought back in Kargil, killing men he led in the Pakistan army," Benazir said.

On the contrary the setting for Simla visit was different, Bhutto said. The Pakistan military, which 'presided' over the fighting in Dhaka, 'had gone'. Instead, a new Pakistani leadership led by her father had gone to Simla.

"The Simla agreement, child of the seventies summit, gave birth to the longest lasting peace between the two countries," Benazir said.

The Indian foreign office planned the receptions well, she added, referring to the 'heart melting' reception accorded by India to Musharraf.

"Musharraf's itinerary is one that can make the hardest hearts melt. On the Indian soil he was received as the undisputed president of Pakistan, an honour his own people have yet to grant him," she said.

But in Simla, she said, it was business right from the beginning, as her father negotiated the release of 90,000 Pakistani POWs who were caught by Indians in the Bangladesh war.

Indo-Pak Summit 2001: The Complete Coverage

Back to top

Tell us what you think of this report