India denies visa to Musharraf

Former military ruler's remarks on Balochistan irk New Delhi

India has denied visa to former Pakistan president, Pervez Musharraf, who wanted to visit the country for attending a seminar this weekend.

Highly-placed sources said the former military ruler was denied visa over his recent anti-India statements. Last week, Musharraf had accused India of fomenting trouble in Pakistan’s Balochistan province.

He had recently revealed that he had ordered the 1999 Kargil intrusion in order to internationalise the Kashmir issue. The war had led to the death of hundreds of Indian soldiers.

Musharraf had been invited to attend a seminar hosted by the Indian chapter of an international outfit, Young Presidents Organisation. He was to be a guest speaker at the conference scheduled in Delhi for Saturday.

Musharraf, a glib-talker, has often floored Indian audiences with his candidness in informal interactions during his earlier visits to India. While Musharraf had sought a multi-city visa, some of his supporters had also applied to the Indian High Commission in Islamabad for a visa to visit India around the time he was planning to travel to Delhi and three other metros, the sources said.

Although there was no official statement on the visa denial, sources said the government did not want the convergence of elements opposed to the present regime in Pakistan on Indian soil for their activities.

“He wanted to visit several Indian cities and attend a few events but we expressed our reservations on granting Musharraf a visa,” sources added. Currently living in self-exile in Britain, Musharraf, had recently said that India was responsible for creating unrest in Pakistan’s south-western Balochistan province and authorities had “solid evidence” in this regard.

He claimed that the involvement of India and Afghanistan in Balochistan was creating unrest in the province. Almost a decade ago, Musharraf had visited India for the Agra summit in the aftermath of the Kargil war and made two more visits in 2005 and 2009.
Unfortunate, says aide

A close Musharraf aide in Islamabad dubbed India’s refusal to grant a visa to former military strongman as “an unfortunate move”.