Civilian govt. in Pak acting on army's behest: R.K. Singh

Former home secretary and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP R.K. Singh on Sunday alleged that the civilian government in Pakistan has so say in the country's foreign policies and is following the command of the army.

"In a democracy, it is the elected government which is supposed to take the final decision on policy not the instruments. Army is an instrument but in Pakistan, the roles are reversed," Singh told ANI.

"In Pakistan, as far as Indian policy is concerned or the Afghanistan policy is concerned or even external policy is concerned or the nuclear policy is concerned all these are controlled by the armed forces and the civilian government has no say," he added.

Pakistan's High Commissioner to India, Abdul Basit, earlier said that Nawaz Sharif was in the "driving seat" in his country and the army has an important role to play in Islamabad's India policy.

In an interview to a leading daily, he said the army had important inputs to give on India, Afghanistan and all other security-related issues.

He justified his remark by saying even India could not have a Pakistan policy without consulting its armed forces.