When some secrets spilled (AS Dulat and general Asad Durrani)
The Spy Chronicles: RAW, ISI and the Illusion of Peace has been co-authored by former RAW chief AS Dulat and former ISI chief general Asad Durrani, in conversation with journalist Aditya Sinha. In a fascinating back-and-forth, the two former spy chiefs discuss a range of “shared interests”, including Kashmir, Raw vs ISI, Hafiz Saeed, Kulbhushan Jadhav, America under Donald Trump – and India-Pakistan ties under Narendra Modi.
An excerpt from the chapter titled “Modi’s Surprise Moves”:
AS Dulat: As surprising as it may sound, Modi did more in his first two years for India-Pakistan relations than his predecessor. It’s a different, instinctive diplomacy in which the foreign office has little role. It fully flows out of the PMO… Even the foreign minister is often not in the loop …
(Modi) had the imagination to invite Mian Saheb for his swearing-in. That it was messed up by the foreign secretary is unfortunate… the politics is too mixed up, unlike with Manmohan Singh and Vajpayee, who kept it in the background… Every prime minister is political, but we don’t have to make it so crude.
‘Modi’s Pakistan policy is Ajit Doval’
Sinha: What is Modi’s Pakistan policy?
Dulat: Frankly I don’t know. There is no Pakistan policy.
Durrani: Doval is his Pakistan policy.
Dulat: Yeah, but you know, Doval and Modi are the same thing. After all, he’s his NSA and he wouldn’t do anything different. It’s more opportunism.
He went to Lahore, but those were better days. Everyone said the chemistry between Mian Saheb and Modi was good, perhaps because Mian Saheb went out of his way; his political instincts maybe tell him that better relations with India would help him….
At one point in time, Modi was going along with that. Till Pathankot…. Then he could sort of live with Pathankot. But after Uri, Modi’s feeling was, we tried you guys and you failed us… so how can we do business? …
Uri: The last straw (Photo: PTI)
‘Pakistan felt, let Modi destroy India’s inner balance’
Durrani: The reaction in Pakistan to Modi’s election was that it served India right. Let Modi take care of India, destroy its image, and possibly destroy its inner balance.
I’ve not been impressed by his antics.
What did he mean crashlanding after giving Pakistan an earful in Afghanistan? He comes to Raiwind to attend Nawaz Sharif’s granddaughter’s wedding, and his drama and tamasha merely created spectacular confusion. People were shell-shocked and just stood there.
I prefer someone like Vajpayee who did not deliver but his approach was right. A person who manages the relationship well will not keep you on tenterhooks. Not that there is any intention to equate Vajpayee with Modi. World of difference. We would be happy if someone like Vajpayee was prime minister in Pakistan. Poet,…
