Islamabad, Oct 22 (IANS) President Pervez Musharraf has said that former prime minister Nawaz Sharif was to blame for troop withdrawal from the Kargil heights despite the Pakistan army being in a strong position there.
He said Sharif instead wanted to put the blame for the withdrawal on him after the 14-day Kargil conflict in the summer of 1999.
Musharraf was addressing a function held to release the Urdu translation of his book, "In the Line of Fire", the Online news agency reported Sunday.
The book, translated into Urdu by his brother-in-law Hidayatullah Ghaisvee, claims that Musharraf had personally briefed Sharif about the Kargil crisis in an exclusive session, in which he explained that the position of Pakistani troops in Kargil was "quite strong".
But Sharif rushed to America, committing the immediate pullout of forces from the (Kargil) mountaintop, Musharraf said.
Refuting allegations that the book was written for personal gain, Musharraf said it was an endeavour to classify, promote and enhance Pakistan's viewpoint to the world.
He said he had penned an authentic account of the Kargil war, which has caused a lot of "irritation" to some vested interests.
The "negative comments of the Indian media authenticate and vindicate my penned claims", Musharraf said.
Referring to the nuclear proliferation by Pakistani scientist A.Q. Khan, Musharraf said only one individual was responsible and the entire army or government cannot be blamed for it.
Musharraf assured that Pakistan's nuclear assets were in safe custody and some military analysts were making misleading statements in this regard to gain cheap popularity.
He said the democratic institutions in the country had been weakened over the years and he had strengthened them by introducing strong checks and balance in the system.
Musharraf said parliament would complete its tenure and the next general elections would commence as per schedule.
Rejecting criticism that he was being guided by the US administration, he said Pakistan makes its own decisions about combating terrorism and does not accept any pressure from any quarter.
In an interview to a private TV channel, Musharraf agreed that an army chief should not be the head of state but the situation in the country demanded that he should maintain both the portfolios, and the parliament has backed him up.
Musharraf also dismissed as "unfounded" criticism of his book because it was written in his capacity as president and an army general, saying there is no clause in the constitution that bars a president from writing a book.
Reiterating that the war on terrorism would continue, Musharraf said there is a need to reject terrorism and extremism, as both are threats to Pakistan.
He said that he never ran away from challenges and faced them head on with courage due to his tough training as a commando.