NEW DELHI: Pakistan's former military ruler Pervez Musharraf has vowed never to visit to India again after being denied a visa by the Indian government, a report said Friday. “I have no words to explain my disappointment,” Musharraf was quoted as telling The Indian Express newspaper by telephone from his home in Dubai. “Your government has dashed my hopes. I think it shows a lack of confidence on the part of India to face me,” he said, according to the paper's website. The former president, who was born in New Delhi before the partition of the sub-continent, had been invited to India by private organisations to attend seminars and meet the media. “I don't plan to come to India ever again,” Musharraf said, citing the visa refusal as an affront to his “honor and dignity.” Indian government officials have confirmed the visa request was denied, but declined to elaborate on the reasons. India press reports earlier this week said the decision stemmed from India's belief that Musharraf was responsible for a large-scale militant incursion in Kashmir in 1999 that brought India and Pakistan to the brink of war. Musharraf was army chief of staff at the time of what became known as the Kargil conflict. Several months later he led a bloodless coup that finally saw him proclaimed Pakistan's president in 2001. He stepped down in 2008 and is now attempting a political comeback. – Agence France
