NEW DELHI, Dec 13: Former prime minister Benazir Bhutto on Saturday urged Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee to put to test President Gen Pervez Musharraf’s “overt” statements for normalization of ties with India.

“It is to the credit of Prime Minister Vajpayee that he did not lose heart despite the undermining of bus diplomacy and the failure of the Agra summit. But then he is a man of many surprises,” Ms Bhutto told a conference on the “peace dividend in South Asia”.

She said Mr Vajpayee had indicated that his upcoming visit to Islamabad would include meetings with “everyone”, including President Musharraf.

“This is just as well, as the Pakistani premier’s position is presently ceremonial and will remain so until power is transferred to parliament,” she said.

Recalling that all the three wars between the two countries took place under military dictatorships, the exiled premier contended: “We believe that the military ruler’s overt statements for normalization of relations must be put to the test.”

She said if those statements were false, he (Musharraf) would be exposed before the bar of the public opinion. If they were true, the benefit would go to the people in the region.

“It is, therefore, important to communicate to enter into dialogue and to test the intentions of each other.”

The PPP chairperson warned that a militant attack could spark a war that neither country really wanted. “For example, a dramatic act, similar to the attack on the Indian parliament, could create intense public pressure on New Delhi to retaliate against Pakistan triggering a war.”

She said perhaps that was why that on the eve of Mr Vajpayee’s visit Islamabad banned some militant groups, froze their accounts and sealed their offices. “It is hoped that such groups would not resurface once again when the snows of winter melt,” said Ms Bhutto.

Ms Bhutto, who had signed the nuclear confidence building treaty with then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1988, said the Indo-Pakistan leadership would need to discuss next month how to have borders that were soft and safe.

Asserting that vigilance must be maintained as militants “would do their best” to undermine the prospects of a breakthrough, she said: “They (militants) believe that without violence there will be no settlement of the Jammu and Kashmir issue.”

Ms Bhutto said there were many who believed that in the context of Indo-Pakistan relations tension could only be reduced when both countries were true democracies.

“I am one of those who believe that democracies do not go to war against other democracies. I say this on the basis of Indo-Pakistan history,” Ms Bhutto maintained.