KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 2: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Sunday defended the military’s intervention in 1999 and said Pakistan did not need any lessons in democracy from anyone.

He was replying to a question of a student of the International Islamic University. The student had questioned credentials of the present regime in Pakistan, after Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz’s address on “Enlightened Moderation—- The Way Forward for the Muslim Ummah”.

Mr Aziz defended president’s policies and said the 1999 coup had been prompted by massive resentment in the army after Gen Musharraf’s plane had been disallowed to land on his way back from Sri Lanka.

Prime Minister Aziz said: “Six years ago Pakistan was called a failed state, and had no money to pay back loans.” However, Gen Musharraf had put the country on the right track of economic, social and political development.

A Pakistan-born American had asked the prime minister if military interventions had resulted in the rise of terrorism and extremism in Pakistan, criticizing the role of politicians supporting military regimes.

“Let me tell you, we don’t need to take lessons in democracy from anyone,” he said, adding that Pakistan was a flourishing democracy with full representation of people.

“All of us care for our country. But more has to be done because the challenges are immense,” he added.

In reply to a question, Mr Aziz said West’s war in Afghanistan and its abandoning had led to the rise of terrorism as it had generated the feeling of deprivation, hopelessness and denial of rights. He said terrorism had damaged the image of the Muslim Ummah.

Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz told a questioner that there was no possibility that terrorists could get access to the nuclear assets of Pakistan.

“Don’t underestimate us. We know how to protect ourselves and our assets. And we will protect our nuclear assets,” he stated. He claimed that Pakistan had a strong and credible command and control authority over its nuclear assets.

He also dispelled the impression that some external forces might deprive Pakistan of its nuclear capability and said the country was capable of defending its assets.