Mush blames Advani for Agra fiasco

New Delhi: Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has blamed then home minister L K Advani for the failure of his summit with then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in July 2001.

"I personally suspect it was Advani sahib. That is my guess because he was quite hawkish in those days," he said in an interview to A G Norrani in Frontline magazine.

The Pakistani leader said he had told Vajpayee that he would only enhance his popularity if the proposed joint declaration was signed between India and Pakistan.

General Musharraf said Agra was a great opportunity for the two countries. "I would say it was a pity that we lost so much time. Agra was a great opportunity: it was the greatest opportunity. We could have made wonderful breakthroughs. I really don't know why we failed."

He said he still could not make out what was the pressure on Vajpayee for backing out on what had been decided by the two leaders.

Meanwhile, giving a twist to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's suggestion for institutionalised arrangements to bring people from both sides of Kashmir closer, Gen Musharraf has said this could be the 'starter' of a process for 'joint management' of the disputed region.

He noted that 'none of us is in favour of their (Kashmir's) independence' and suggested a 'joint framework for self-governance' of both parts of Kashmir should be worked out as part of a solution to the problem.

"Yes, I think that is a starter. This is a very good term," he said when referred to Singh's recent remarks that there should be institutionalised arrangements to bring people from both parts of Kashmir closer.

The two countries could discuss his proposal of 'joint management mechanism on top, consisting of representatives from Pakistan, India and Kashmir, who oversee the joint management (aspect)," he said.

Musharraf was asked whether he would consider Singh's suggestion as 'an acceptable mode of joint management' of the two parts of Kashmir. Singh had made the remarks at the Kashmir roundtable in Srinagar on May 24 while addressing various groups of Jammu and Kashmir.

"The term...'institutional arrangements' is what I think is correct. But we need to define the modalities," Musharraf said.

He said there needs to be 'discussion and thought' with regard to the idea of institutionalising the arrangement.