I won’t come to India ever: Musharraf

“I have no words to explain my disappointment,” Musharraf told The Indian Express over the phone,from his home in Dubai. “Meri ummeedon pe paani fer diya aapki government nay (Your government has dashed my hopes)… I think it shows a lack of confidence on the part of India to face me.”

Pointing out that he had met both former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh after Kargil,the former General said he didn’t believe his role in the war prompted the move.

“I mean,that’s a very silly reason… All this rapprochement that I initiated has been washed down the drain. Why was I allowed to come three times between Kargil and now if that is the case?”

He says he is yet to be communicated the official reason for the denial of the visa. “I think the denial has come from either India’s Ministry of Interior (Home) or Foreign Ministry. If it is Interior,they were wary of the law and order situation,or my comments on terrorism,Kashmir perhaps. Or could it be what I said on Muslim extremism being on the rise in India? I frankly don’t know.”

Even his comments on India’s role in Balochistan — another reason being cited — are not new,Musharraf says. “I have been saying this for quite some time. If you read WikiLeaks,you’ll know… It’s not based on hearsay. Nawab Akbar Bugti’s grandson Brahamdagh Bugti is being supported by India,I’ve known that for years and I told Bush about it. I told Karzai about it. What’s new now?”

He claims the denial of visa came as a total surprise. “I was relaxed all this while. I have been travelling the world the past few months and everywhere I went,I was assured by the local Indian diplomatic missions that the visa would be granted. They kept saying,“don’t worry” in London,then in New York,Chicago,Toronto and even here in Dubai. But the manner in which they dragged it to the last day and then fell silent is absolutely shocking… This came as a shock even to the Indian High Commissioner here in Dubai.”

The former Pakistani president also claims Delhi’s decision is not what the people of India want. “It is not in line with the feeling of the people,” he asserts.

Declaring that he would never come to India again,Musharraf says: “I believe in my honour and dignity. When Indian and Pakistani forces were eyeball-to-eyeball in 2002,I went to attend the SAARC Summit in Kathmandu,for which I was permitted to fly over the Indian airspace… I chose to route my plane via Beijing instead.”