In what appears to be a highly controversial utterance, former military dictator of Pakistan General Pervez Musharraf has said that the Pakistani Army 'caught India by throat' during the Kargil War in 1999. In a public ceremony in Karachi on Sunday, May 17, to announce the All Pakistan Muslim League's plan of taking part in the local body election, Musharraf said, " India will always remember the battle of Kargil."

On the other hand, Nawaz Sharif who was the Prime Minister during the Kargil War, admitted in September 2007 that he had 'let down' his then Indian counterpart Atal Bihari Vajpayee. He also maintained that the then Pakistan Army chief Pervez Musharraf was behind the 1999 Pakistani aggression in Kargil without his knowledge which had damaged India - Pakistan relations.

General Pervez Musharraf has been one of the most controversial figures of Pakistan. His long list of infamous operations in Pakistan itself include military coup to overthrowing the elected Nawaz Sharif government, imposition of emergency several times and his alleged involvement in the assassination of former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Benazir Bhutto. There were several assassination attempts on him as well. He thus had to go for a self-imposed exile in 2008 by seeking political asylum from the United Kingdom.\

A file picture showing the infamous military coup by General Musharraf which ousted the then Prime Minister's elected government in 1999 | Source : Dawn