Musharraf's 'Pak trained militants to fight in Kashmir' statement 'misunderstood': Spokesman

Karachi, Oct 5 (ANI): Following a huge uproar over former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's candid confession that Pakistan trained underground militant groups to fight against India in Kashmir, his spokesman Fawwad Chaudhry, in a bid to do damage control, has said that the APML founder's statement on Kashmir was misrepresented in the media, and thus widely misunderstood too.

Chaudhry said that Musharraf's statement, given during an interview with a German magazine, was merely a political instance over the Kashmir issue and it had nothing to do with the formation of Jehadi groups in Kashmir, The News reported.

"Former President (retd.) General Musharraf favours freedom movement of Kashmiris", he added.

In the interview, Musharraf had admitted that Pakistan had "indeed formed" militant underground groups to fight India in Kashmir, adding, "The government turned a blind eye because they wanted India to discuss Kashmir."

"The West was ignoring the resolution of the Kashmir issue, which is the core issue of Pakistan. We expected the West-especially the United States and important countries like Germany-to resolve the Kashmir issue. Has Germany done that?" he added.

When asked if that (the West ignoring the Kashmir issue) gave Pakistan the right to train underground fighters, the 67-year old had said, "Yes, it is the right of any country to promote its own interests when India is not prepared to discuss Kashmir at the United Nations, and is not prepared to resolve the dispute in a peaceful manner." (ANI)