On the occasion of his official visit to France, President Musharraf gave a lecture at the Institute for International Relations of France, IFRI . Amongst the audience were members of the diplomatic corps in Paris, researchers, students and journalists. The lecture was moderated by Mr Thierry de Montbrial, Director- General of IFRI.
In his introductory remarks, President Musharraf spoke highly of the bilateral relationship between Pakistan and France. He said that former President Jacques Chirac is one of his great friends and he expected to build a similar friendship with President Sarkozy. While noting with satisfaction the solid economic and commercial bonds between France and Pakistan, he expressed his wish to further strengthen the political ties between the two countries. Mr Musharraf also expressed how much he admired Napoleon whom he considered as the father of the modern strategic thinking in military studies.
President Musharraf’s lecture consisted of two parts: the geo-political environment in the world and in the South Asian region during the past 3 decades; and Pakistan’s role in the process “inter-civilization dialogue”. His presentation was followed by a brief session of Questions and Answers.
The geo-political environment in the world and in the South Asian region during the past 3 decades
In this part, Mr Musharraf showed how he perceived a flurry of major events that had happened in the world and in the region from the late 1970s up until the first decade of the 21st century. He took a review of the events such as the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan; the breach of the Berlin Wall; the disintegration of the Soviet Union; the reorientation and “abandonment” of strategic allies by the West; the emergence of the Taliban in Afghanistan; the 3 Indian-Pakistani wars over the disputed Kashmir; the genocidal war in Bosnia; the 9-11 catastrophe and the wars in Iraq. He also underlined the change of the world from the cold-war bipolarity to multi-polarity, in which the European Union is assuming an increasing importance.
Mr Musharraf went on to refer to the revolution in ICT over the past 30 years which had been bringing the countries and the people of the world closer to each other. However, he also pointed out a visible inequity between the haves and the have-nots, between developed countries and the Third World during this revolution. Mr Musharraf remarked that the widening rich- poor gap, coupled with the uncertainties resulted from the changing world over the past 3 decades had led to “anger, powerlessness, and desperation” in many parts of the world. This sentiment was conspicuous in the South and Central Asian region and had indeed led to “an upheaval” in the Muslim World.
Pakistan’s role in the process of “inter-civilization dialogue”
Mr Musharraf described Pakistan as the key and a powerful Muslim state in the world which is strategically located at the crossroad between the Middle East, Western China, India, Southeast Asia and Central Asia. Therefore, he said that the country always had a significant role to play not only in the region, in the Muslim community but also in the world.
Referring to the ongoing global anti-terror campaign, Mr Musharraf made it clear that Pakistan considered war as “a too expensive solution” in today’s world. He specified that Pakistan had proposed to the Organization of the Islamic Conference Summit (OIC) in Kuala Lumpur a two-pronged strategy, one aimed at the Muslim world and restructuring OIC and the other at the West and political solutions to major disputes in the world. At the regional level, Mr Musharraf informed the audience of Pakistan’s rapprochement policy with India and on how his country had contributed to the process of peace and harmony recovery in neighbouring Afghanistan. He underlined the role of dialogue in the peace process in this sub-region of Asia.
Mr Musharraf went on to give a brief introduction to the domestic situation in Pakistan. He called upon Western countries to have a better understanding of Pakistan. He highlighted the main features of Pakistan, saying that his is a country of great cultural and ethnic diversity, one that is “religious but moderate” and is struggling against the ramifications of more than 30 years of warfare which left behind it more than 4 million refugees and constant menaces from the Taliban.
Mr Musharraf expressed his government’s strong determination to fight extremism and terrorism. He, however, underlined that like extremism, terrorism is “a state of mind” and the best strategy to fight terrorism should be one that leads eventually to the change of mindset. To do that, according to him, the root causes such as poverty and illiteracy had to be addressed. He was of the view that the resort to forces would never be the ultimate solution to the problem of terrorism and extremism because “a military strategy only buys one time”. He said that the long-term solution should be “a multi-pronged” strategy incorporating therein the political, economic, social, religious and cultural aspects.
Questions and answers:
The questions raised by the audience concentrated on the capacity of the Musharraf administration to keep control of the current situation; the reputation of the army in Pakistan; the relations among the different religious and ethnic groups; the forthcoming elections and the recent assassination of Benazir Bhutto.
In response to those questions, President Musharraf said the government maintained a good control of the situation. With regards to the territories in the Western part of Pakistan, he said the situation is under control despite the instability caused by the refugee camps and the threats from the Taliban. Asked if he was afraid of a possible coup d’état against him during his absence on mission, Mr Musharraf said he had enough confidence and ground to believe that such a thing would not happen to him. He praised the Pakistani army, saying that it is widely recognized as one of the most popular armies in the United Nations Peacekeeping forces. Concerning the forthcoming elections, President Musharraf ascribed the current confusion in the country to the return of the two former prime ministers, namely Benazir Bhutto and Nawar Sharif. When asked about a possible international investigation into the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, Mr Musharraf said he welcomed such an investigation.
(TMH from Paris)
Service minimum à Paris
pour Musharraf
23/01/2008 | Mise à jour : 07:04 | Commentaires
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Nicolas Sarkozy a insisté, mardi, pour que les élections pakistanaises de février se déroulent dans les meilleures conditions possibles de liberté, de pluralisme, de transparence et de sécurité. Crédits photo : AP
Le président a reçu mardi un soutien prudent de Nicolas Sarkozy.
Alors que son pays traverse une période de fortes turbulences, le président Pervez Musharraf est en quête de caution européenne. Il l'a reçue mardi à Paris, sans enthousiasme, lors d'un entretien à l'Élysée avec Nicolas Sarkozy. Moins d'un mois après l'assassinat de Benazir Bhutto, le chef de l'État a entrepris une tournée destinée à tenter de dissiper le trouble déclenché en Europe par l'assassinat de l'opposante, le 27 décembre. Après Bruxelles et Paris, Pervez Musharraf est attendu aujourd'hui à Davos, puis en Grande-Bretagne.
Au surlendemain de l'attentat contre Benazir, Nicolas Sarkozy avait téléphoné à son homologue pakistanais puis, dès le 1er janvier, dépêché Bernard Kouchner, premier responsable étranger à se rendre sur place. Les législatives ont été reportées au 18 février. Lundi à Bruxelles, le chef de l'État pakistanais s'est engagé à ce que ces élections soient «libres». Il a également appelé les Européens à «aider plutôt que critiquer» son régime, «en première ligne dans la lutte contre le terrorisme». Nicolas Sarkozy a insisté, mardi, pour que le scrutin se déroule dans les meilleures conditions possibles de liberté, de pluralisme, de transparence et de sécurité. À Paris, on est bien conscient des bénéfices que le pouvoir peut retirer de la crise, avec une opposition divisée et une campagne électorale dénaturée. Nicolas Sarkozy a souligné que la tenue des élections est «la seule réponse à apporter au terrorisme». Il a assuré que la France «continuera à apporter au Pakistan tout son soutien dans la lutte contre le terrorisme».
Personne n'est dupe des ambiguïtés de Pervez Musharraf. Mais, faute d'alternative, celui-ci reste incontournable. Mardi, le président pakistanais s'est une fois encore présenté comme le meilleur allié dans la «guerre contre la terreur». À deux jours de l'arrivée en Inde de Nicolas Sarkozy, l'accueil du dirigeant pakistanais à Paris n'a guère été apprécié par New Delhi. Une «maladresse», juge un expert des questions indiennes. (Le Figaro)
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