Key moments in Pervez Musharraf's career: Kargil failure, bloodless coup, Agra Summit...

Pervez Musharraf who was the Army chief came to power in Pakistan after a coup in 1999 as he overthrew the Nawaz Sharif government. He was widely known as the chief architect of the Kargil war.

Pakistan's former President Pervez Musharraf,78, is reportedly in critical condition but is now stable and out of a ventilator.

The former president has been ill for some time. The controversial former president was sentenced to death in absentia by a Pakistan court in 2019 for his role in the imposition of the 2007 emergency.

The former Pakistan ruler was also charged with treason in 2013. Musharraf was allowed to travel to Dubai in 2016 for treatment.

Musharraf who was the Army chief came to power after a coup in 1999 overthrowing the Nawaz Sharif government. He was widely known as the chief architect of the Kargil war against India in the summer of 1999.

Indian forces had successfully managed to thwart Pakistan's efforts to annex key areas around Kargil delivering a severe blow to the Pakistan army.

Musharraf's controversial reign came to an end in 2008 amid protests as he stepped down from office as he launched a political party All Pakistan Muslim League but it failed to make any headway in Pakistan politics.

A diplomat's son, Musharraf joined the Pakistan Army in 1964 and thus began a career that finally peaked in 2001 as the man who was born in Delhi before partition appointed himself as president.

Musharraf in fact annexed power in dramatic circumstances. He was dismissed by the then prime minister Nawaz Sharif after the failed Kargil war and was on a plane while returning from an overseas trip.

The airplane wasn't allowed to land, however, the Army moved to remove Sharif from power and Musharraf's plane was allowed to land.

Sharif was put under house arrest as Musharraf moved to control Pakistan. Sharif and his family were exiled to Saudi Arabia in 2000 clearing the way for Musharraf to exert control.

Kargil was not the only military engagement against India, Musharraf fought in the 1965 war with India and was commander of the commando battalion during the 1971 war. Both wars were won by India.

Reports claim he had proposed the Kargil infiltration bid to the then prime minister late Benazir Bhutto who rejected the plan. At the height of power in the early 2000s, Musharraf-backed PML-Q along with a coalition came to power during the 2002 elections which legitimised his rule.

Musharraf also backed Zafarullah Khan Jamali as Pakistan's prime minister as the military ruler sought to assert power over the country.

As the trade towers in New York and the Pentagon were hit during the terror attack on the US on September 11 2001, Musharraf backed President Bush's war on terror against the Taliban and Al Qaida in Afghanistan.

In a major diplomatic offensive, Musharraf visited India in 2004 during former prime minister Manmohan Singh's tenure.

He had earlier reportedly opened backchannel talks on ceasefire along the Line of Control(LoC), however, it did not materialise.

Pervez Musharraf and former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee came together for the Agra Summit in July 2001 as both leaders sought to address the Kashmir issue including cross-border terrorism and nuclear issues.

However, negotiations broke down as Musharraf could not give assurances to end cross-border infiltration and no breakthrough was achieved on any other front as the talks collapsed.