The former Army Chief, General (retired) V.K. Singh, on Friday said “as a military commander” he commended the former Pakistan military ruler, General (retired) Pervez Musharraf for daring to come 11 km inside Indian territory before the Kargil war, but on the other hand, he said, the revelation was a confirmation that Islamabad started the Kargil war.
Answering a question during a press conference with social activist Anna Hazare on the information recently revealed by a retired Pakistan Army officer, General Singh said there were “mistakes” on the Indian side that allowed Pakistani troops to cross over into Indian territory and let General Musharraf go back safely.
“As far as General Musharraf is concerned, I would like to put it in two ways. One, as a military commander, I would commend Gen. Musharraf for coming 11 km [inside Indian territory] to stay with his troops for a night. It is the courage of a military commander that he came so far knowing that there was danger,” he said.
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“Second, what was happening on our side you all know and the facts are before you. Why did we let him come and why did we let him go? I would only say that there were some mistakes which need to be rectified,” he said.
General Singh was commenting on the revelation by the former Pakistan Army officer that General Musharraf had stayed an entire night inside Indian territory with his troops before the conflict erupted in Kargil in 1999.
He said the revelation was just a confirmation that Pakistan had initiated the Kargil war. “What happened in 1999, we, including the Indian Army, know… the Pakistan Army started the Kargil war. There is nothing new in it. Pakistan had been telling lies. Only now its officials are vindicating our stand.”
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