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The Spy Chronicles: RAW, ISI And The Illusion Of P
Sometime in 2016, a series of dialogues took place which set out to find a meeting ground, even if only an illusion, between A.S. Dulat and Asad Durrani. One was a former chief of RAW, India's external intelligence agency, the other of ISI, its Pakistani counterpart. As they could not meet in their home countries, the conversations, guided by journalist Aditya Sinha, took place in cities like Istanbul, Bangkok and Kathmandu. On the table were subjects that have long haunted South Asia, flash points that take lives regularly. It was in all ways a deep dive into the politics of the subcontinent, as seen through the eyes of two spymasters. Among the subjects: Kashmir, and a missed opportunity for peace; Hafiz Saeed and 26/11; Kulbhushan Jadhav; surgical strikes; the deal for Osama bin Laden; how the United States and Russia feature in the India-Pakistan relationship; and how terror undermines the two countries' attempts at talks. When the project was first mooted, General Durrani laughed and said nobody would believe it even if it was written as fiction. At a time of fraught relations, this unlikely dialogue between two former spy chiefs from opposite sides - a project that is the first of its kind - may well provide some answers.
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The Spy Chronicles (द स्पाय क्रॉनिकल्स)
द स्पाय क्रॉनिकल्स. रॉ आयएसआय आणि शांततेचा आभास. अमरजितसिंह दुलत हे ‘रॉ’चे माजी प्रमुख आहेत, तर असद दुर्रानी ‘आयएसआय’चे माजी प्रमुख आहेत. 2016मध्ये दुलत आणि दुर्रानी यांच्यादरम्यान अनेकदा संवाद झाला. त्या दोघांमध्ये पत्रकार आदित्य सिन्हा यांच्या मध्यस्थीनं इस्तंबूल, बँकॉक आणि काठमांडू यांसारख्या शहरांमध्ये भारत-पाकिस्तान संबंधांचा ऊहापोह करणाऱ्या अनौपचारिक चर्चा झाल्या. या संवादामध्ये काश्मीर आणि शांततेची गमावलेली संधी; हाफीज सईद आणि 26/11, कुलभूषण जाधव; सर्जिकल स्ट्राइक; ओसामा बिन लादेनचा सौदा अशा अनेक संवेदनशील मुद्द्यांवर गंभीर तरीही मनमोकळी चर्चा करण्यात आली आहे. या पुस्तकामध्ये हेरगिरीच्या क्षेत्रातील या दोन्हीही दिग्गजांनी भारतीय उपखंडातल्या राजकारणाचा खोलवर वेध घेतलेला आहे.
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Kashmir The Vajpayee Years
There comes a day in one's life when one feels it should all be put down before memory fades. There are endless memories and I have carried a story with me for a long time. SRINAGAR IN THE WINTER OF 1989 was an eerie ghost town witnessing the beginnings of a war dance. The dam burst the night boys from the separatist JKLF group were freed in exchange for the release of Rubaiya Sayeed, the Union home minister's daughter. As Farooq Abdullah had predicted, the government's caving in emboldened many Kashmiris into thinking that azaadi was possible. 'The price we will have to pay' were Farooq's prophetic words. Killings were almost a daily occurrence. Bomb explosions and firings occurred not far from the chief minister's residence in the most secure zone. Gun-toting youth in trucks were seen close to the cantonment. Kashmiris believed that they were on the verge of liberation. A.S. Dulat, who was posted there, saw Intelligence Bureau colleagues being picked off one by one. It was a long, slow haul to regaining control. From then to today, Dulat has had a continuous engagement with Kashmir. The initiatives launched by the Vajpayee government in power from 1998 to 2004 were the high point of this constant effort to keep balance in a delicate state. As Vajpayee said, Kashmir was a problem that had to be solved. In this extraordinary memoir that reads like a thriller, Dulat gives a sweeping account of the difficulties, successes and near triumphs in the effort to bring back Kashmir from the brink. He shows the players, the politics, the strategies and the true intent and sheer ruthlessness of the meddlers from across the border. Kashmir: The Vajpayee Years paints an unforgettable portrait of politics in India's most beautiful but troubled state.