India refuses Musharraf visa

India has denied a visa to Pakistan's ex-president Pervez Musharraf on the grounds that he was responsible for a conflict that nearly erupted into war between the the two countries, media reports said Wednesday.

Reuters/Luke MacGregor

Musharraf, who took power in a bloodless coup and ruled Pakistan from 1999 to 2008, was invited to India by private organisations to attend seminars and meet the media.

 
The former Pakistani president, who was born in Delhi before the subcontinent's partition, fought against India in 1965 and 1971 wars.

He led Pakistan's army in the 1999 Kargil conflict in which armed fighters infiltrated Indian-controlled Kashmir, the Muslim-majority state which is the principle cause of conflict between the nuclear-armed neighbours.

Musharraf is currently attempting a political comeback and several of his supporters applied for visas to visit India at the same time, according to the IBN website. It says that Delhi also wanted to avoid Musharraf and his friends campaigning against President Asif Ali Zardari’s government on its soil.

Musharraf had been invited to address a seminar hosted by the Young Presidents’ Organisation, an international outfit involving influential business leaders, in Delhi on Saturday.

Earlier this month Musharraf accused India's consulates in Afghanistan of helping anti-Pakistan guerrillas to inflitrate sensitive areas of the country.