ISLAMABAD, Sept 30: President Gen Pervez Musharraf on Saturday described the joint statement issued after his talks with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Havana as a positive step towards ending all disputes.

Talking to reporters at the Chaklala airbase on his return from a four-nation visit, he said misunderstandings with Afghan President Hamid Karzai had been removed.

Terming his visit to Belgium, Cuba, US and UK a success, Gen Musharraf said many milestones had been achieved during the visit, notably the accord with India on a joint anti-terror mechanism, ironing out of differences with the Afghan president and relaying Pakistan’s stance on terrorism and extremism.

The president said his meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was crucial and the joint statement issued later would pave way for finding solutions to all outstanding disputes

He said his meeting with US President George Bush was also very constructive and several misunderstandings developed with President Karzai had been ironed out and “we were able to relay our stance on the Waziristan accord in an amicable manner”.

Gen Musharraf said he met Prime Minister Tony Blair in London and discussed with him the war on terror and the Taliban issue and several reservations in this regard were removed.

Earlier, the president’s arrival was delayed for three hours due to a technical fault developed in his plane as soon as it took off from the Heathrow airport for Islamabad.

ISPR chief Maj-Gen Shaukat Sultan said that the plane’s navigation system had developed fault at 11pm local time and it remained in air for 20 minutes before landing at London.

The president and his entourage stayed at the VIP lounge and it took three hours to remove the fault.

—Online