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ISI - RAW Chiefs Joint venture book, startling revelations made

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ISLAMABAD: In an incident that reads like the script of a Bollywood spy thriller, Usman Durrani, son of former ISI chief retired Lt. General Asad Durrani who was arrested in Mumbai in May 2015 was rescued and sent safely back home by the Indian intelligence RAW.

The episode has been revealed in the recently-published book “The Spy Chronicles” jointly authored by General Asad Durrani and former chief of Indian Raw A S Dulat.

It stated that in May 2015, former director general of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) General Asad Durrani’s son Osman Durrani came to Kochi for work on behalf of a German company. Osman should have exited the country from the city that he entered from. But his office booked him from a flight back via Mumbai. He was stopped by authorities in Mumbai and what followed were 24 hours of backchannel networking to get him out of India despite the visa violation.

Durrani and former secretary of India's external spy agency Research &Analysis Wing (RAW) A S Dulat discuss this in the upcoming book- The Spy Chronicles: RAW, ISI and the Illusion of Peace - by the two spymasters and journalist Aditya Sinha. "We were in a panic because we did not know what would happen. But even those people (Mumbai special branch) did not say to him, 'you don't have a visa for Bombay, what are you doing, pakro, andar karo (arrest him and consign him behind bar.)' That could have happened, but it didn't. All this while my wife and I had another concern-what if someone reported that Osman, the son of a former ISI chief, was roaming around Mumbai, which hadn't forgotten 26/11,'' recalls Durrani. When Durrani heard that Osman had been detained, he called Dulat for help. Dulat called several people including then RAW chief Rajinder Khanna. The wheels of the Indian intelligence establishment began to turn even as Osman was stonewalled. Things however worked out, and Osman was able to fly back to Germany after a day from Mumbai.

Dulat recalls the most touching part of the incident was that when he called Khanna to thank him for his help, the RAW chief said in reference to Durrani, "It's our duty,' he said, 'after all, he's a colleague."

General Asad Durrani, while talking briefly with The News, on Sunday evening confirmed the episode about his son and said that he is co-author of the book that will shortly be available in Pakistan. The book has also discussed the so-called surgical strike of the Indian Army in Azad Kashmir, arrest of Kalbhushan Jadev, Nawaz Sharif, Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, Kashmir, Muzaffar Burhan Wani Shaheed and Akhand Bharat.

Former Indian RAW chief AS Dulat has reminded the Indian leadership to address the Kashmir issue first of all. The book has also indicated the possibility of resumption of talks between Pakistan and India in the wake of polls in Pakistan.

Interestingly, after months of tough posturing, Pakistan and India renewed the Track II diplomacy when an Indian delegation held talks with a Pakistani team in Islamabad on April 28-30. While officially insisting that such informal talks did not signify any watering down of India’s position that terror and talks can’t go together, a senior bureaucrat privately admitted that such a dialogue would not be possible “without the blessings, or at least a wink or a nod, from the government”.

The revival of the so-called Neemrana Dialogue, named after the fort in Rajasthan where it was first held in October 1991, was shrugged off by the Indian side, with Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar saying that “...functional exchanges between the two sides have continued and is actually a part of normal process between the two countries. So there is nothing new which we see in this dialogue”.

A former Pakistani politician and MNA, who requested anonymity given the “sensitivity” of the subject, said the talks were “probably part of an exploratory probe by Hindustan to see whether a formal dialogue can be resumed, probably after the elections in Pakistan in July. But much depends on what happens between now and then, and the reports that each side submits to their respective governments after the meeting last month. The ceasefire offered by the Indian side in Kashmir for Ramzan should be seen in that context.”

While both sides remained tight-lipped about the composition of their delegations for this meeting in Islamabad, media reports said the Indian delegation was led by former diplomat Vivek Katju while the Pakistani side was headed by former foreign minister Inam-ul-Haq.

Professor Rakesh Dutta of Department of Defence and National Security Studies, Panjab University, who was part of the delegation, however, said the nine-member Indian side was led by former Cabinet Secretary Surinder Singh and comprised, apart from him, Katju, Rakesh Sood, Lt-Gen (retd) Aditya Singh, Women Political Watch President Veena Nayar, former NCERT director Jagmohan Rajput, Director of the Energy and Research Institute Vibha Dhawan and coordinator Suresh Mathur.

The Pakistani side, led by former foreign minister Inamul Haq, included former high commissioner to India and foreign secretary Salman Bashir, Lt-Gen Asif Yasin Malik, former law minister Barrister Shahida Jamil, National Defence University Dean Perviaz Iqbal Cheema, former I&B Minister Javed Jabbar, former State Bank of Pakistan governor Ishrat Hussain, Islamabad Policy Research Institute Fellow Muhammad Munir and a few others.

An Indian diplomat who has served in Pakistan expressed “deep skepticism” over the possibility of formal talks resuming anytime soon. “You see, as long as Pakistan keeps harping on Kashmir and we keep stressing on terrorism, there is really no common ground. So what’s there to really talk about?”

Dulat reminded that the Track II talks restarted in 2016 and the same took place in Istanbul, Kathmandu and Bangkok.

He observed that IPL was underway for the last seven years. Some cricketers like Shahid Afridi could amuse the Indian spectators although he is retired but cricket fans in India would like to see him in action who can provide good entertainment. Dulat revealed that “they” don’t want that any Pakistani should earn some money.

General Durrani is of the view that Pakistan and India should initiate back channel dialogue. A person who is acceptable to major political parties, Foreign Office and army should head such talks. He reminded that such a team was appointed to sort out the differences between Eastern Communist Europe and Western Europe.
 
ISI - RAW Chiefs Joint venture book, startling revelations made
21 May, 2018


isi-raw-chiefs-joint-venture-book-startling-revelations-made-1526922965-5876.jpg



ISLAMABAD - Theirs has been the most vicious of all relations -- one was a former chief of India's RAW and the other of Pakistan's ISI -- but their coming together in a first-of-its kind groundbreaking book of dialogues highlights that "all hope is not lost" as far as sub-continental relations are concerned.

Amarjit Singh Dulat, former Secretary of Research and Analysis Wing (1999-2000) and Asad Durrani, former Director General, Inter-Services Intelligence (1990-91), being the most unusual of counterparts as they are, could not meet in their home countries -- and therefore guided by journalist Aditya Sinha (the moderator of the dialogues in the book), the conversations took place in cities like Istanbul, Bangkok and Kathmandu.

READ MORE: Spy Chronicles: How RAW worked out release of former ISI Chiefs son in Mumbai
The result? Their meetings produced a total of over 1.7 lakh words and about half of these have made their way into "Spy Chronicles" (HarperCollins), scheduled to be launched here on Wednesday.

Their conversations, Sinha notes, primarily dealt with "subjects that have long haunted South Asia, flashpoints that take lives regularly." The idea behind these dialogues was to take a deep dive into the politics of the subcontinent, "as seen through the eyes of two spymasters."

READ MORE: Pakistan Army Chief, DG ISI held meeting with UAE crown Prince
The conversations throw light on Kashmir, and a missed opportunity for peace; 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 relationship; and how terror undermines the two countries' attempts at talks.

The book was Dulat's idea and when the project was first mooted, Durrani laughed and said: "Even if we were to write fiction, no one would believe us."

READ MORE: Spying for ISI, Top Indian diplomat jailed as charges of leaking top secret national security info proved
The former Indian spy chief refers to his Pakistani counterpart as a "friend", noting that his straight-forwardness is striking.

"There is no bullshit; for him a spade is always a spade, which is at times disappointing for me. He has never hesitated to speak up or render help," Dulat writes in praise of Durrani.

On the other hand, Durrani points out that he "was born an Indian - there was no Pakistan then" and goes on to recall his early days when he grew up watching Indian movies, and keenly listening to cricket commentaries on the radio.

Dulat also reveals that when Narendra Modi was preparing to take the oath of office as Prime Minister in 2014, "two notables from Srinagar" suggested that the then Pakistani Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif be invited as "he was keen to come". A senior Pakistani diplomat suggested against taking the risk because Sharif "might not be allowed to come to India". Dulat then dialled Durrani, whose response was unequivocal - "there was no reason for Nawaz Sharif not to come." The message was then passed along.

"There was excietment in government, but the bigwigs wanted an assurance that Mian Saheb would come if invited," Dulat reveals.

In the opening chapters, the two spymasters dwell on the relveance of the book , speakign about their respective backgrounds as professional intelligence officers.

The book also mentions a particlar incident of May 2015 when Dulat and his colleagues rescued Durrani's son Osman who was stranded in India. "The General called me six to seven times the next day, often asking the same thing....I told him... You believe in Allah and I have full faith in Waheguru, all will be well," recalls Dulat.

And finally when Osman left Mumbai, the General called and said: "Your faith in Waheguru helped Osman."

Dulat and Durrani also explore the universe of spying in the book; they deal with the perceptions of the ISI and compare it to the RAW .

In this context, Durrani reveals that "the ISI probably learnt about" Osama bin Laden and "he was handed over to the US according to a mutually agreed process". Dulat maintains that the assessment from the Indian side "is the same. That he was handed over by Pakistan."

The book further carries an interesting round of conversations on India's current National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, whose "iron fist" attitude towards Pakistan, according to Durrani, is a result of his experience with the Indian High Commission in Islamabad in the 1980s.

"In Ajit Doval's case it probably affected him in a way where he felt, 'Oh God, this country must be dealt with an iron fist'," Durrani notes. Dulat, on the other hand, describes Doval as "one of our outstanding operational guys".

"The trouble, though, with people who are so much into themselves, is that they're lonesome and they stay aloof. In 'A Legacy of Spies' there's a relevant line that says, the trouble with spooks is that they find it difficult to invest in trust...Ajit is a guy who won't trust anybody," maintains Dulat.

On the issue of Kulbhushan Jadav, Dulat says that if he was "really a RAW spy, then it's a pretty sloppy operation."

Durrani on the other hand believes that the revealation about Jadhav must have been done to counter the Indian threat after the January 2, 2016 attack on the Pathankot air base.

"What was the threat," asks Dukat.

"That India is looking for links between Pathankot and our establishment. So we came up with a counter-argument that we know you've been doing this (in Balochistan)."

However, both of them maintain that India and Pakistan should have been discreet about the matter, ensuring the exchange of spies in each other's custody.

The book concludes with a section where both spy masters submit a roadmap for the way forward and then discus, often argue, about the points presented by each other.

The book has been published by HarperCollins but it was Chiki Sarkar, the publisher at Juggernaut Books, who suggested that it should be in a dialogue form to reach a wider audience and make it an interesting read.

(Saket Suman can be contacted at saket.s@ians.in)
 
In this context, Durrani reveals that "the ISI probably learnt about" Osama bin Laden and "he was handed over to the US according to a mutually agreed process". Dulat maintains that the assessment from the Indian side "is the same. That he was handed over by Pakistan."
This is an interesting part. Indians keep telling us that we were sheltering Osama until Americans caught us with our pants down while Pakistan never acknowledged Osama presence and for some reason always remained muted about it. I for one was always of an opinion that this whole drama of Osama was staged to help Obama secure his 2nd term and what best way than to kill the worlds most wanted man.
For once I now feel contended that it was in fact the ISI that handed over Osama and not the other way round. Also glad that on a professional scale our adversary actually agrees with our assessment.
@third eye @MilSpec Your thoughts gentlemen?
 
Here is my assessment. You will find nothing new in this book and it will be a totally different from reality. The ISI chief mentioned is from soviet era and Raw chief is from 9/11 era. To under stand the dynamics ISI is a much more stranger organisation and is evolving with time, the rest of intelligence organisations are just copy cat to ISI and learning and catching up but evolution of ISI is too fast. A decade difference of ISI and Raw leader might help Indias to achieve so comparison but still it will not be enough.

I recently read a news of a major IOS and Android hack blamed on Pakistani intelligence but after reading the whole story there was concrete evidence of linking it to Pakistani intelligence there was no concrete evidence and thus news never popped on MSM. they blamed using of some old zero day and targets were military tech to activists and so on including some pissing attack but nothing concrete.

When ever media goes against ISI it make sure ISI is doing it job successfully and when ever media praises ISI they get the credit. The dynamical situation of ISI is engineered in such a way that they profit from both negative and positive publicity, so my advice is stop propaganda against ISI no one can win the war from them. ISI is too pro to be handled.
 
Here is my assessment. You will find nothing new in this book and it will be a totally different from reality. The ISI chief mentioned is from soviet era and Raw chief is from 9/11 era. To under stand the dynamics ISI is a much more stranger organisation and is evolving with time, the rest of intelligence organisations are just copy cat to ISI and learning and catching up but evolution of ISI is too fast. A decade difference of ISI and Raw leader might help Indias to achieve so comparison but still it will not be enough.

I recently read a news of a major IOS and Android hack blamed on Pakistani intelligence but after reading the whole story there was concrete evidence of linking it to Pakistani intelligence there was no concrete evidence and thus news never popped on MSM. they blamed using of some old zero day and targets were military tech to activists and so on including some pissing attack but nothing concrete.

When ever media goes against ISI it make sure ISI is doing it job successfully and when ever media praises ISI they get the credit. The dynamical situation of ISI is engineered in such a way that they profit from both negative and positive publicity, so my advice is stop propaganda against ISI no one can win the war from them. ISI is too pro to be handled.
Dear @DESERT FIGHTER ,

Now tell after reading this above post by @BHarwana , who is good at self-fellatio?
 
This is an interesting part. Indians keep telling us that we were sheltering Osama until Americans caught us with our pants down while Pakistan never acknowledged Osama presence and for some reason always remained muted about it. I for one was always of an opinion that this whole drama of Osama was staged to help Obama secure his 2nd term and what best way than to kill the worlds most wanted man.
For once I now feel contended that it was in fact the ISI that handed over Osama and not the other way round. Also glad that on a professional scale our adversary actually agrees with our assessment.
@third eye @MilSpec Your thoughts gentlemen?

OBL is still in Pakistan resting in some freezer, just in case Trump need him for 2nd term to bust democrats.
 
Asad Durrani has lost his brain after retirement
time to retire him from his life i guess.......but what was his son doing in india? and why is this book published in india first/only....and who and why this aditya sinha guy is involved in this?
 

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