Do you sincerely think that President Pervez Musharraf wants to fight terrorism?
I am prepared to give Musharraf some benefit of doubt. He is, of course, the best deal for India and the Western powers because there is not much in Pakistan to choose from. He is trying to bring the Pakistani military leadership under control. Changing the ISI leadership was a positive development. Having said that, the depth of idealisation within the Pakistani intelligence establishment is very high. It is not going to overnight change the colour of Pakistan’s involvement. There may be a discrepancy between what Musharraf says and what he wants. This will be because particular middle-level ISI officials recruited by Hamid Gul will continue to support the Taliban in whatever ways they can. The people in ISI may still be working for the Taliban. There is something to be said about assisting Musharraf to overcome the economic decay in Pakistan. An economically crumbling Pakistan is not in Afghanistan’s interest or India’s interest. Pakistan has a young population and they are suffering
