Islamabad: Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has said his famous handshake with Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee at the January SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) summit in Kathmandu was "an impulsive decision" which he took on the rostrum.

"It was an impulsive decision" which he took on the rostrum, Musharraf said in the BBC's 'Question Time Pakistan' programme to be telecast on September 6.

However, the Pakistan President was in double mind how to approach him. "I wondered as I stepped off the rostrum to approach him from behind or frontally", he said.

"I took the very correct decision that I should approach him frontally because going from behind may be...he (Vajpayee) reacts very slow when I am behind," he said.

PTI