Pak Army won’t stop Islamabad from improving ties with India: Ex-ISI chief
Former ISI chief, Lt. Gen. Asad Durrani, who has triggered a controversy in Pakistan with a book he co-authored with his once-rival Indian spymaster, says that the army and the intelligence agency of his country have never stopped any civilian government in Islamabad from improving ties with India if done on the basis of "sound principles" of international relations.
"The common belief (that civilian governments in Pakistan are subservient to the military when it comes to critical foreign policies) is seriously flawed. No one ever prevented a civilian government from improving relations with India – if it did that according to sound principles of relations between nations. Otherwise, even a military ruler like (Pervez) Musharraf could come to grief," Durrani told IANS in an email inter- view from Pakistan.
Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief was denied a visa for the launch of the book, "The Spy Chronicles: RAW ISI And The Illusion Of Peace", which was released jointly by former Vice President
Hamid Ansari, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and former Union minister Yashwant Sinha in New Delhi on May 23.
He has since been summoned by Pakistan Army asking him to explain his position on views attributed to him in the book of dialogues that throws light on the perspectives, assumptions and observations of the two spymasters on Kashmir; Hafiz Saeed and 26/11; Kulbhushan Jadhav; surgical strikes; the deal for Osama bin Laden; how the US and Russia feature in the India-Pakistan re- lationship; and how terror undermines the two countries' attempts at talks. Replying to a question about current border tension between India and Pakistan with talks stalled and all sports and cultural exchanges at a standstill, the former ISI chief said nothing was "forever" in ties between the two nuclear-armed nations.
In the book, Durrani suggests that instead of having "a confidant of each Prime Minister, a team headed by someone considered suitable by the major political parties, the foreign office and the military", should be engaged for talks "to ensure their longtime relevance". Asked how was it possible when neighbourhood policy of the two countries changed with their dispensation, Dur- rani said: "Precisely for that reason. If there was wider participation there might be more chances that the policies would not be fiddled with ' too much'. Indeed, the government of the day has the prerogative but in most cases was unlikely to ride roughshod like (US President Donald) Trump."
Asked if he agreed with his Indian counterpart's assertion that India should talk directly with the Pakistan Army, the former military general said: "Dialogues take place at multiple levels – official and unofficial. But a political umbrella for the process is the sine qua non (essential condition) for (its) success."
When asked, what is Saeed's value to Pakistan, Durrani replied, "The cost of prosecuting him is too great."
"If you prosecute Saeed, the first reaction will be: it's on India's behalf, you're hounding him, he's innocent, etc. The political cost is big, now," he said.