Bangkok, Oct 10: In the midst of peace initiative, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee tonight declared that if a war was thrust on India by Pakistan it would take "appropriate measures" to win it as it did in Kargil. "If a war is thrust upon India, it would take appropriate measures to win it. That is what we did in Kargil. Pakistan did not learn from the division of the country during the 1971 Bangladesh war when it could not stop its dismemberment," Vajpayee said addressing a large gathering of Indian community here.

Describing the Kargil war as a "betrayal" on the part of Pakistan, Vajpayee attacked President Pervez Musharraf, who was then the army chief, for plotting the action.

Contending that he had written a poem "Jang nahi hone denge" (we will not let war happen) earlier, Vajpayee said he could not stop the Kargil war as "it was a betrayal. I had undertaken the Lahore bus trip just ahead of the conflict in February 1999 and was accorded a grand welcome. At that time even Musharraf sahib saluted me."
He said the then Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was kept in the dark and a conspiracy was on to remove him.

"India was betrayed but we replied to it. We did not want any of our territory to be occupied by Pakistan nor did we want to occupy Pakistani territory." Observing that there has been "give and take" of territory after previous wars, the Prime Minister said "at that time (Kargil) I decide that this would not happen again. We have to take full control of Kargil."

Bureau Report