Tuesday, September 26 2006 12:06 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Islamabad: Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has slammed the then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, saying he had displayed a 'total lack of statesmanship' during the Kargil conflict causing 'despair' in the army.

In his book 'In the Line of Fire', the General, who was army chief during the 1999 conflict, admits that Pakistan had lost ground and Indian army had achieved success as the intense conflict progressed. He criticises Sharif for agreeing to 'unconditional withdrawal' under international pressure.

"On our side, I am ashamed to say, our political leadership insinuated that the achievements of our troops amounted to a 'debacle'. As the chief of army staff, I found myself in a very difficult position," he says.

He recalls that he wanted to explain the military situation, to demonstrate how successful we had been and point out the political mishandling that had caused so much despair. But that would have been disloyal and very unsettling for the political leaders. In desperation, they might do something to destabilise the state system, or to damage the fabric of the army.

"On our side, our political leadership displayed a total lack of statesmanship and made no serious effort to rally the country," writes Musharraf who is widely believed to be the man behind the Pakistani intrusions that led to a four-month-long conflict.

He notes that "India worked hard to isolate us diplomatically and that international pressure had a demoralising effect on Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif."

Pointing out differences between the military and the political establishment, Musharraf says that Sharif had asked him several times whether Pakistan should accept a ceasefire and withdraw.

"My answer every time was restricted to the optimistic military situation; I left the political decisions to him," he said.

He says that a suggestion was also made to Sharif at a meeting that "Whatever we did, we must stress that Kargil was 'our joint effort and collective responsibility' Nawaz Sharif did not like this truth and stood up abruptly, saying that we would continue later -- but this never happened. The meeting ended inconclusively."

Referring to Sharif's sudden visit to the US to meet President Bill Clinton, Musharraf recalls it remains a mystery to me why he was in such a hurry.

"President Clinton was the only statesman who had influence with both Pakistan and India. Yet in truth, it was no negotiation at all. Sharif agreed to an unconditional withdrawal," he writes.