Dubai, Dec 3: An angry Pervez Musharraf has said he will never go to India, after the Indian government refused to grant him visa for delivering a lecture in Delhi.
"I believe in my honour and dignity", Musharraf told India Express over phone from Dubai. "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 Indian airspace..I chose to route my plane via Beijing instead."
"I don't plan to come to India ever again", said the former Pakistani dictator. "I have no words to explain my disappointment. Meri ummeedon pe paani fer diya aapki government ne" (Your govt has dashed my hopes)
Musharraf pointed out that he had met both former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh after Kargil war.
"I mean, that's a very silly reason..All this rapprochment 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?"
Musharraf said he is yet to be communicated the official reason for the denial of visa. "I think the denial has come from either India's Home Ministry or Foreign Ministry. If it is Home, they were wary of the law and order stituation, 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."
Musharraf says, even his comments on India's alleged role in Balochistan are not new. "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 have known that for years and I told Bush about it. I told Karzai about it. What's new now?"
Musharraf says, Indian envoys had time and again assured him he would get the visa. "I was relaxed all this wile. 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, thenin 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."
Says Musharraf: "Delhi's decision is not what the people of India want. It is not in line with the feeling of the people."
