Former despot of Pakistan Pervez Musharraf

ISLAMABAD: The US treats Pakistan according to its needs and "ditches" when it does not require Islamabad, former military ruler Pervez Musharraf has said as he accused America of aligning with India against his country.

The former president and chief of All Pakistan Muslim League (APML) in an interview with Voice of America said that Pakistan-US relations have suffered quite a blow and are currently at "the lowest ebb", the Express Tribune reported.

The 74-year-old retired general, who is facing high treason charges, has been living in Dubai since last year when he was allowed to leave Pakistan for medical treatment.

He said that there is an absolute requirement to sit with the US and resolve whatever tiff the countries are facing. "This connects to Afghanistan. There are allegations against Pakistan, and both the countries have their grievances," he said.

Answering a question as to why there are strenuous relations between the two countries, Musharraf said, "US has supported India very openly from the Cold War era. And now again, the US is aligning itself with India against Pakistan, this affects us directly. We would like the UN to examine India's role in Afghanistan. A one-sided approach to the problem is negative."

The former army chief said that the people of Pakistan do not understand "why the US ditches us and then comes back to us".

"The people also know this that US comes to us when they need us, and they ditch us when they don't - it should not be this way," he said.

The relations between Washington and Islamabad have been strained since US President Donald Trump accused Pakistan of "lies and deceit" and criticised Islamabad for providing safe havens to terror groups.