Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf was on Saturday night dismissive of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's Lahore bus trip to normalise relations with his country even while terming the prime minister's Agra initiative as a 'genuine try'.
"The invitation to Agra was a genuine try (of Vajpayee to resolve the disputes). However, the first try -- the Lahore bus trip -- was not a try at all because he was not ready to resolve issues at that time," Musharraf told Prannoy Roy in an interview to NDTV.
Recalling his meeting with Vajpayee at Agra, Musharraf said, "We had drafted the Agra declaration. I believe he (Vajpayee) is a man of peace. Our thoughts are similar on peace."
On reports that he as army chief had refused to receive Vajpayee on his Lahore trip in February 1999, the Pakistani leader dismissed it as misconception and said, "I welcomed him at the airport. I was the first to shake his hand. I did not go to Wagah because I was in uniform."
Asked whether converting Indo-Pak border into a soft border was a possibility, he agreed, saying 'people-to-people contact was necessary'.
"But it cannot solve the problem, although it can be a way forward," Musharraf said.