LAHORE, July 4: Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad on Monday defended all policies followed by President Pervez Musharraf after 9/11, saying the country would have faced sanctions if a different course had been pursued. Talking to reporters at the Nazria-i-Pakistan Foundation offices, he said some decisions taken by Gen Musharraf had not been liked by people, but they were in the best national interest.

He said Pakistan had strengthened its defence after attacks on the World Trade Centre, and now it had technological superiority over its ‘ideological rivals’.

Underlining the need for resolution of the Kashmir dispute, the minister said all confidence-building measures would be washed away by the Baglihar Dam in case Pakistan and India failed to seize the opportunity.

He urged President Bush and Prime Minister Blair to play their role in settling the Kashmir and Palestine issues in order to bring an unrest in the Islamic world to an end.

Sheikh Rashid said talks between the two countries stalled when one of them called Kashmir as its integral part and the other its jugular vein. He said Pakistan adhered to the UN resolution on the subject, but could show flexibility if the other side was willing to reciprocate.

He reiterated that the line of control could not be accepted as international border.

He advised the critics of Gen Musharraf not to forget that there were people like President Karzai and Zalmy Khalilzad who never missed an opportunity to hold Pakistan responsible for any wrong thing anywhere in the area.

The minister also addressed schoolchildren and answered their questions.

He said Pakistan wanted India to withdraw its troops from held Kashmir and allow the electronic media and the NGOs to visit the area.

He said the Kashmiris were struggling for liberation from Indian occupation, and Pakistan was extending them moral and political support.

He said the issue of Gen Musharraf’s uniform was over and should not be raised again and again.

He said he was for a democratic system, but the army had to intervene on various occasions under the ‘doctrine of necessity’.

Sheikh rashid said there was a need for encouraging the talented but poor students in all parts of the country. Similarly, he said, equal opportunities of education should be afforded to all students or there would be no justification for competitions among them.

In his opinion it would be a good idea to use mosques as centres of education from morning to Zuhr.