The Spy Chronicles

Title: The Spy Chronicles – RAW, ISI and the Illusion of Peace

Author: Dulat A S, Asad Durrani and Aditya Sinha

Publisher: HarperCollins India, 2018 (First)

ISBN: 9789352779253

Pages: 319

There is a marked see-saw pattern in the relationship between India and Pakistan. Whenever hope begins to build up as a result of a bold initiative from a determined leader, extremist elements in Pakistan find a way to scuttle the momentum already built up. When Vajpayee made the famous bus journey to Lahore, the Pakistani military responded with an invasion of Kargil and attacks on the Indian Parliament and Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly buildings. When things began to improve under Manmohan Singh, 26/11 happened in which a group of terrorists sponsored by and trained in Pakistan attacked civilian targets in Mumbai, gunning down 168 people in a matter of a few hours. When Narendra Modi made an unannounced visit on the occasion of Premier Nawaz Sharif’s granddaughter’s wedding, the belligerent wings of the Pakistani establishment sabotaged the goodwill by making brazen suicide attacks against Indian military camps at Pathankot and Uri. Evidently, there is something missing in the wider picture presented by government sources, a crucial missing link without which relations with Pakistan could not be normalized. Backchannel, or Track II diplomacy of using non-governmental, informal or unofficial contacts and activities between private citizens are regularly employed to supplement efforts through official channels. Here, two of the most leading spymasters of both countries – Amarjeet Singh Dulat of India and Asad Durrani of Pakistan – come together and discuss the issues pestering the countries by sitting across a table. Dulat was Secretary of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) in 1999-2000, while General Durrani was Director-General of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in 1990-91. Their comments and speeches are codified by Aditya Sinha, a writer and journalist living on the outskirts of Delhi.

The book is endowed with two introductions penned by each participant. It is written as a dialog between Dulat and Durrani. This was a technique used by authors to deflect criticism from them while handling potentially incendiary subjects. Galileo’s book ‘The Two Chief World Systems’, in which he declared that the earth goes round the sun is one such volume. It examined the merits and defects of world systems in which the sun and the earth were at the centre of the universe respectively. This being a highly controversial topic, Galileo was forced to go for the cover of an alias in the character of a scholar portrayed in the book. But Sinha has no aliases. Whatever opinion given in the book is attributed to either of the two dignitaries, who are also very good friends. They have worked together in the past too, with two joint projects on intelligence cooperation and on Kashmir. An interesting feature of the subcontinent is that the elite of both countries interact freely with each other either in bouts of overseas education or training programs. Needless to say, the dialog is amply lubricated with liberal doses of Scotch. One wonders why this camaraderie at the top is not percolated down to lower levels. Sinha narrates a case in which Durrani’s son was saved from a nasty bureaucratic deadlock in Mumbai in 2015 when he visited that city which was not in his approved visa regimen. He was not allowed to board an international flight to Germany. The proper intervention by Dulat cleared the situation. However, his assertion that there is little hostility towards Pakistan outside Delhi is just wishful thinking. Dulat has seen only the upper circles of Indian society.

Kashmir, the central issue that divides the two countries, gets ample attention in the dialog. If we look at the history of partition, this too may be thought of only as a recent manifestation of the fundamental divide – whether a Muslim majority province can stay under a Hindu majority nation. Kashmir issue began only in 1947, but the Indian and Pakistani nations – if we accept Jinnah’s argument for a while – were already divided even while living under British hegemony. It is also fairly certain that once the Kashmir issue is amicably resolved, some other business would take its place as a bone of contention. Here, both participants agree that a forward movement is required. Resumption of trade and encouragement of people-to-people contact between the two parts of Kashmir are advocated. Kashmir comes up for discussion in most of the chapters, but no coherent view is presented by anybody. The unfocussed discussion points to a change in US attitude to Kashmir post-9/11. Freedom fighters became terrorists overnight and its ambassador at Delhi forbade its officials from visiting Srinagar.

Dulat and Durrani were at the heads of their profession of espionage, but those who expect them to open up too much are in for disappointment – they are too seasoned professionals for that. Dulat tantalizingly mentions that RAW gave an intelligence report to Pakistan that might have saved the life of President Pervez Musharraf in 2003, but does not elaborate on it. Not to be outdone, Durrani lets out the secret that Nawaz Sharif was informed of the Kargil invasion masterminded by Musharraf. Kargil region came in Indian hands after the 1971 war and Musharraf always wanted to get it back. Even with his belligerence, Durrani estimates that Musharraf’s tenure was the best in mutual relations. Durrani is unimpressed by the surgical strike by India in 2016. By that term, he means an operation that drops Special Forces some 200 km behind enemy lines to attack a specific object. This was not the case and the target was only a few hundred yards across the border. He then suggests that it might have been a choreographed strike with concurrence from Pakistan. In any case, it can only be termed as a ‘modified hot pursuit’. The part played by the Media is criticized by both experts who term it as an enemy of peace. Modi government is hawkish and muscular and Durrani comments that it would be compelled to respond to force with force under the perpetual glare of the Media. Durrani also guesses that Osama bin Laden might probably have been handed over by Pakistan. It is amazing that even under the spell of a decent amount of alcohol, the former spy chiefs manage to keep their mouths shut when strategic interests are at stake. They divulge only those details that are already known and available from other sources.

Durrani served in the army while Dulat was in the police service. Both of them harbor an emotion akin to contempt for professional diplomats who are tasked with the burden of maintaining good relations between nations. They are said to be unnecessarily strident in their deals. In the end, it might ultimately be the soldiers who have to answer for the follies of the diplomats in the battlefields. As a soldier, Durrani acknowledges the inevitability of war in certain circumstances. To completely rule out war is definitely not feasible. While it must not be the instrument of policy, it should be retained as an extension of it. Without war, there are aims that cannot be achieved. Bangladesh would not have been won without war.

The book contains a good discussion on the means to go forward in normalizing India-Pakistan relations. Dulat’s suggestions stress only on increasing people to people contacts and are superfluous, considering the religious makeup of the two countries. While India maintains a large Muslim minority, Pakistan has virtually eliminated its Hindu minority by murder, arson, conversion and forced migration to India. The Muslims of both countries might thus find their relatives living in the other country, but not the Hindus. It is hence evident that more popular interactions serve the interests of only one community. Without mindful of the consequences of opening up India indiscriminately to Pakistanis of all sorts, Dulat proposes to allow more Pakistani actors in Bollywood, more Pakistani players in IPL, easier visa norms and softer borders. He recommends nothing Pakistan should do in return. It is disappointing that Dulat is unable to think of anything substantial and his ideas hint at the disaster it would invite in India if he was allowed to carry on negotiations with our western neighbour. It is suggestive that Durrani does not share any such absurd notions. He proposes the setting up of a consultative body to resolve bilateral conflicts as and when they arise. This seems to be a better and genuine idea than that of Dulat’s preposterous pitch for a union of the two Punjabs in India and Pakistan.

The book does not enrich readers with any new idea. They have to put up with the idle chitchat of two retired officials over a glass of whiskey. Some photographs are included, but it would have been fit to remain in the family albums of the two officials as no public interest is served by them. Altogether, the book conveys the realization of a lost opportunity.

The book is recommended.

Rating: 2 Star