This Beeb story asks whether the new book by President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan, given that it's replete with allegations such as the United States threatening to bomb it back to the Stone Age, may make the practice of diplomacy in his part of the world just a wee bit more difficult.

An excerpt:

In a joint press briefing after meeting President Bush at the White House on Friday, he refused to clarify the comments saying "he was honour-bound" to the publishers not to discuss the book before the launch.

For his part, President Bush said he is not aware of his country making such a threat to Pakistan.

Startling claims

Moreover, Richard Armitage, the former US official Gen Musharraf names as having delivered the threat to his intelligence chief, has denied the remarks attributed to him.

Mr Armitage, however, admits that soon after 9/11 he did deliver "a strong message" to the Pakistanis that either they were with the US or against it in the US-led war on terror.

In his book, Gen Musharraf has also made some startling claims about the 1999 Kargil conflict with India.

He lauds Pakistan army's "landmark" performance during the Kargil conflict and claims that it was the Indian army which wanted to capture Pakistani territory in 1999 that finally led to the Kargil war.

For many Indians, Kargil is a painful episode of betrayal and military adventure by Pakistan.

No wonder then, that President Musharraf's latest claims have drawn bitter reaction from Indian politicians and the media.

"All that he is saying is a pack of lies. He attacked us and then lost. That's the reality," is how India's former national security advisor, Brajesh Mishra, sums up the popular Indian sentiment.

The renewed controversy over what led to the Kargil conflict and who was responsible for it comes at a time when nearly more than a week ago the two countries decided to resume the suspended peace talks.