Former Pakistan Army chief and President Pervez Musharraf, who is given to occasional displays of theatrics, has expressed deep disappointment at being denied a visa to visit India this month. He has also been churlish enough to vow never to come to India again. It is strange to find a former head of state who has chosen self-exile to living in his own country grumble about being refused entry by a third country. The occasions on which Gen. Musharraf came to India during his term in office were driven by reasons of state. On one such trip — the Agra summit — he had summoned bad grace and left in a huff because the Indian leadership did not buy his recipes. Whatever the reasons why the former general’s visa request was turned down, it should not be difficult for a former military ruler to understand that states are guided by their perception of self-interest, and that it is amateurish to take these things personally.
On another day, Mr Musharraf might find he is being welcomed with open arms. A visit may have been facilitated even this time around had personal or family reasons made a trip to India necessary — say a wedding or an occasion of grief. But Mr Musharraf is a clever man, and also an extraordinarily ambitious one who has lately made plain his desire to play an active role in his country’s political life, and his lobbyists are doing what they can to further that end. Politics in Pakistan is nervously poised at this point, as the recent WikiLeaks disclosures have confirmed. Given this, it might have been naïve of New Delhi to allow a disgraced former Pakistani ruler to do some grandstanding from a stage in India. It is just a thing like this that is apt to send the wrong signal that New Delhi favours this former military dictator to other options that might be churned out domestically within Pakistan. India has no favourites as far as public life in Pakistan goes. In any case, having favourites is not a particularly bright idea when the entire spectrum of the Pakistani military and civilian elite nurses more than a strong dose of hostility towards this country. If anything, the last visit of external minister S.M. Krishna to Islamabad, where he was subjected to tantrums and impetuous behaviour by his counterpart although the latter was his host, underlined the truth of this just a few months back. India is not afraid of Pakistan. Nor does it have any wish to provide a handle to irresponsible elements in that country to spread the propaganda that it is seeking to insert itself into Pakistan’s domestic affairs by encouraging a former leader against whom sentiment is running high in his own country.
Let Gen. Musharraf fight his own demons, and his own domestic battles, without dragging New Delhi into it. If he returns to the saddle, India will once again be compelled to deal with him in his new capacity. The manner in which he is dealt with will naturally depend on the circumstances of the day. The WikiLeaks files suggest that Pakistan’s civilian and military leadership believe India must “earn” their trust — ideally by pulling out of Afghanistan and handing it Kashmir. Indians find such a suggestion both bizarre and simple-minded. As for the issue of “trust”, it has become evident that Islamabad has no wish to provide India any succour on the issue of 26/11. Such being the case, the gap in bilateral ties can hardly be said to have narrowed although Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has worked hard to find a modus vivendi. Any perceived encouragement to Gen. Musharraf in these circumstances will hardly be helpful.