New Delhi: Pakistan’s former army chief and former president Pervez Musharraf passed away on Sunday after prolonged illness. He breathed his last at the American Hospital in Dubai at the age of 79. Pervez Musharraf ruled Pakistan from 1999 to 2008. Musharraf’s tenure was full of controversies. Meanwhile, if India-Pakistan relations are talked about, the Agra Summit of July 2001 is mentioned. These talks failed before they even started. Know why?
According to a report, talks with Pakistan were held in Lahore in February 1999 at the initiative of the then Prime Minister of India, Atal Bihari Vajpayee. In which the Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif participated. However, before the outcome of these talks, in July 1999, Pakistan launched the Kargil War. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee announced a six-month ‘curfew’ on counter-terrorism operations in Jammu and Kashmir on the occasion of Ramzan in November 2000. In the meantime the military force did not sit still but became less aggressive against the terrorists.
Talks of Agra amid the fresh wounds of Kargil
When this ceasefire was about to end, Atal Bihari Vajpayee one day asked LK Advani and External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh, ‘What should be done next?’ Advani said, ‘Atalji, why don’t you invite General Pervez Musharraf to come to India for talks?’ Pervez Musharraf himself wants to change the image of an isolated Pakistan in the international community. In such a situation, he was also willing to talk to India. Agra was chosen for the talks, the dates fixed. On 14 July 2001, Pervez Musharraf arrived at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in Delhi with his wife. The Kargil war was only two years old, so the wounds were fresh, but there was hope for reconciliation.
Musharraf agreed to an extradition treaty
Home Minister LK Advani reached here to meet Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf. After the initial formal conversation, Advani told Musharraf, ‘I have recently returned from Turkey. Turkey has signed an extradition treaty with India, why shouldn’t India and Pakistan also sign a similar treaty so that criminals hiding in each other’s countries can be brought to justice?’ On this Musharraf said, ‘Yes, why not, there should be an extradition treaty between India and Pakistan.’
Advani said – But before that you Dawood…
Advani further said, ‘Before this treaty is formally implemented, if you hand over Dawood Ibrahim, who is responsible for the 1993 Mumbai blasts, to India, it will go a long way in advancing the peace process.’ Hearing the name of Dawood, Musharraf’s face turned pale. He said, ‘Advaniji, I understand what you mean… I want to tell you clearly that Dawood Ibrahim is not in Pakistan.’
Musharraf gave up terrorism and raised the Kashmir issue
This was one of the reasons why the Agra settlement negotiations were hastily ended before they could even begin. Pervez Musharraf arrived in Agra with his delegation and officials. A joint proposal was to be brought by both countries on July 16, but Pakistan was not ready to mention either the Shimla Agreement or the Lahore Agreement. It is also not prepared on the issue of curbing cross-border terrorism. Here, on the contrary, he tried to bring the Kashmir issue to the center of the entire debate.
Musharraf returned to Pakistan empty-handed
Nothing worked and Musharraf returned empty-handed. As the atmosphere worsened and the Kashmir issue was not discussed as he had expected, he became agitated and avoided going to the shrine of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti. After this conversation Musharraf was not given a public farewell, Vajpayee also did not shake hands in front of the camera.
Musharraf’s Delhi connection
Born on August 11, 1943 in Daryaganj, New Delhi, Musharraf had close ties with India. But during the partition of 1947, his family decided to go to Pakistan. India got independence when Musharraf was just four years old and at the same time the country was divided into two parts. Pakistan became a new destination for the Muslims of India. Musharraf’s father joined the Pakistan Civil Service and started working for the Pakistan government. His father later joined the Ministry of External Affairs and held charge in Turkey.
Musharraf has written all his childhood experiences in his autobiography In the Line of Fire: A Memoir. Musharraf’s family moved to Ankara in 1949, when his father was part of a diplomatic mission from Pakistan to Turkey. He then returned and studied at St. Patrick’s School in Karachi, after which he took admission in Foreman Christian College University, Lahore. Musharraf’s favorite subject was mathematics, but later he became interested in economics. In 1961, at the age of 18, Musharraf entered the Pakistan Military Academy in Kakul. During his college years at the PMA and early joint military trials, Musharraf shared a room with PQ Mehndi of the Pakistan Air Force and Abdul Aziz Mirza of the Navy.