Former US ambassador to India Robert Blackwill has dismissed Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf's claim in his memoir, that the military standoff with India following the attack on Parliament in 2001 ended with India 'blinking' first.

 

The former envoy also cautioned against what he called 'supreme overconfidence' in some quarters, that India would not go to any length to defend its people and its interests. But he felt the controversial assertions in President Musharraf's book 'In the Line of Fire' would not derail the Indo-Pak peace process. He is also confident that the Indo-US nuclear deal will get through the US Congress this year.

 

Indira Kannan met the former US Ambassador to India, in New York for this exclusive interview.

 

Q. About Musharraf's claim that India blinked first after the December 2001 military standoff

Absolutely not, both leaders got to the brink of war and were sobered by the prospect of a nuclear conflict. This is a completely erroneous account. I hope it doesn't reflect the supreme overconfidence that India is not capable of defending its people or its interests, because of course it is. We were lucky it didn't get to war, if India had been pushed further, it would have happened. Because they were just not prepared to tolerate such an attack on the seat of democracy that originated across the border, in Pakistan.

 

Q. About the impact of the claims made in the book on Indo-Pak ties

Not significant, we are generous with leaders' recollection of events. I met Musharraf a few days ago and both he and the Prime Minister are positive about progress.

 

Q: Is the nuke deal getting stalled in the Senate?

Let's see what the Senate does this week, it's not stalled, just caught up in the complicated US legislative process. It's going to pass this year and will be signed into law by the President. It was passed overwhelmingly by the House and Senate committees, and in the House, and will be passed in the Senate, just be patient.