Sharif admits he 'let down' Vajpayee during Kargil

On the eve of his return home, former Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif vowed to set up a commission to fix responsibility for the "tragic" Kargil conflict even as he admitted that he "let down" his then Indian counterpart Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Maintaining that President Pervez Musharraf, then the Army chief, was behind the 1999 Pakistani aggression in Kargil, he said the then Army Chief "subverted" the process of improving relations with India and he regretted not taking action against him.

Favouring friendly and peaceful relations with India, Sharif told a TV channel that the Kargil incident continued to "haunt" him. "Kargil was a very tragic incident in the history of the relations between the two countries....I wish it had not happened," he said.

"After Kargil, the Indian prime minister said he was let down by Pakistan's prime minister (Sharif). I think he is justified in making the remarks. I accept that," said Sharif. Insisting he had no knowledge of Musharraf's Kargil plan, Sharif said there were tapes to prove this. He regretted not having set up a commission to go into the episode.