Washington: Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has said that the India-Pakistan dialogue process, about to resume soon, should never break down due to terror acts, as that would mean playing into the hands of terrorists.

Describing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as a "very positive and a very sincere person," General Musharraf said the joint statement issued after his meeting with Dr. Singh in Havana had "seeds of success and forward movement." It was time for both the leaders to sit down to reach "decisions and solutions," he added.

"Yes, the talks are going to start, and I believe that talks should never break down — talks should never break down through any kind of terrorist activity, which we condemn and strongly oppose, because the aim of all terrorists is to make sure that these talks fail. So we'll be playing in their games if you are to allow the failure of talks because of these actions," Gen. Musharraf told students at the George Washington University on Friday.

"Having said that, I had a wonderful meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, and I see him as a very positive and a very sincere person. The people of both the countries want peace and want us to succeed in resolving our disputes. And therefore it is up to the leadership to make sure that they get resolved," he said.

Gen. Musharraf hoped that both Dr. Singh and him would be able to carry forward the peace process when the latter visits Pakistan.

He also appealed to the people of India and Pakistan to show "understanding and flexibility" and support both leaders for their efforts to resolve bilateral issues. He said there were people who wanted to "derail the process, do not want peace to come about."

"Rudderless ship"

Gen. Musharraf also spoke about Pakistan's socio-economic development since he came to power.

Describing Pakistan as a "rudderless ship on high seas in turbulent waters" at the time when he came to power, Gen. Musharraf said the country was "failing" in all departments.

Indirectly criticising the political parties of Pakistan, he said he was the "greatest believer" in democracy.

"Unfortunately, this may come hard to real democracy proponents, but there was no democracy in Pakistan. I have introduced sustainable democracy in Pakistan," he said. He added that during his rule, Pakistan experienced vast social transformation, including women's rights. — PTI

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