Musharraf confirms Headley’s confession: ISI trains Lashkar, Jaish

Barely a day after David Coleman Headley had revealed that Pakistan’s ISI funds terror groups like Lashkar-e- Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), Pakistan’s former president and military ruler Pervez Musharraf has confirmed that the ISI trains these terror groups and not the army.

“Pakistan Army is not training civilians. Intelligence organisation on our side as well as on your side is involved,” Mr Musharraf said during an interview to an Indian news channel. On being asked if he sees any progress in the India-Pakistan peace process, Mr Musharraf said: “Everything will stop if you address the core issue. That is what you don’t want to do.” Stressing on the Kashmir issue, Mr Musharraf said that Kashmir continues to arouse passions in Pakistan and anyone fighting in Kashmir is a freedom fighter.

Speaking about the status of the Foreign-Secretary level talks which are yet to take place between the two countries, Mr Musharraf said: “You don’t want [to move forward on the core issue]. You want to bulldoze us, you want to bully us and you want to dominate us. You only want to talk about issues concern you like terrorism, Mumbai and Pathankot. So I don’t feel, core issues are moving forward.”

The statement of Mr Musharraf vindicates India’s long-standing view that terror groups in Pakistan get the backing of the intelligence service ISI. In the backdrop of the Pathankot attacks, India and Pakistan have put the dialogue on hold and are expected to renew the dialogue in the “near future”.

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