WASHINGTON, October 01 (DNA): Former President and Chief of Army Staff General (Retired) Pervez Musharraf on Saturday said that Pakistan should counter threat India, while calling on not to escalate the tensions between both countries.

“India is threatening to strike us at the right time,” which is a serious matter,” Musharraf said in an interview at the Washington Ideas Forum.

“I think the war hysteria that is being created in India, I repeat, India, not in Pakistan, is an issue. They do that always. This is not the only time. Every time they do that,” the former President said.

The former Army Chief said that the war hysteria was being perpetuated in India, and not Pakistan, and he would advice them not to escalate the situation in the region.

In a session moderated by senior host Robert Siegel, he said he will return back to Pakistan at the right time, despite the plethora of cases against him, as he was acting beyond himself and had no political ambitions.

Although the cases against him are politically motivated, he has no objection as long as his movement are not restricted.

He also spoke on the deteriorating relations between Pakistan and the United States, and said Pakistan was in thick and thin with US and fought wars with them including against the Soviets. He called on the need for strong relationship with the US, which can also affect ties with Afghanistan.

Musharraf said that there is an inherent weakness in the democracy which has not tailored in accordance with the dictates of the environment. There are no checks and balances in the democracy, and not even the constitution doesn’t  provides it, which sucks it into the socio-economic factors.

“The people of Pakistan love the army and demand a lot from it. So I’m very proud of the fact that army has backed me because I’ve been with them for over 40 years. I fought wars with them, I’ve fought two wars and I’ve fought a number of actions with them. So I know they are my constituency.”

He admitted that the Army has played a political role in the governance of Pakistan, mainly due to the misgovernance of the so-called democratic governments.

“There are no checks and balances within the system. The constitution doesn’t provide those checks and balances,” he said responding to a query. Therefore, the military is forced and pulled, sucked into the political environment, especially when misgovernance is going on and Pakistan is going down in all socioeconomic indicators. The public and the people massively run towards the army chief, and that is how the army gets involved,” Musharraf said.

Therefore, he said that “people of Pakistan love the Army, and demand a lot from the it.” The Army has a stature and he is proud of the fact that the Army has backed him due to his association with it for more than forty years.

Musharaf said that he returned to the country not due to the social media, but his vision to bring a change in the society. “I want to create a third-party coalition in the country,” he said. However, he was disappointed over the lack of popular support and coalition partners.

The former President is currently on tour of the United States, where he is expected to visit Capitol Hill, and meet several prominent leaders, and also interact with the Pakistani diaspora.  DNA