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Pak's 'General Shanti' touches base with Doval
K.P. Nayar
Feb. 3: Back-channel talks, now under way between India and Pakistan, may lead to the resumption of bilateral dialogue between the two countries after the formation of a new government in Jammu and Kashmir, at any rate, before the BJP-led government completes one year in office.
Maj. Gen. Mahmud Ali Durrani, who was Pakistan's ambassador in Washington and later national security adviser after retiring from the army, yesterday met Ajit Doval, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's national security adviser, and had extensive discussions.
For the record, Durrani is on a private visit to New Delhi, so officially his meeting with Doval was merely a courtesy call by someone who had Doval's counterpart job in Islamabad during the crisis of terrorist attacks on Mumbai in November 2008.
The retired general is ideally suited to be a back channel with India. His reputation favouring negotiated settlement of disputes with this country earned him the sobriquet of "General Shanti" among his sceptical colleagues at the army general headquarters in Rawalpindi.
But he earned their respect after travelling to New Delhi post the 26/11 attacks as part of efforts to defuse the situation in the light of the Mumbai violence. As a result, President Asif Ali Zardari allowed him to continue as national security adviser although Durrani was originally appointed to the post by Gen. Pervez Musharraf.
At several opportunities during his current visit to New Delhi, which began yesterday, Durrani praised R.K. Mishra, who was Atal Bihari Vajpayee's back channel with Islamabad. Mishra played a major role behind the scenes in Vajpayee's bus trip to Lahore as Prime Minister and in his later peace initiatives with both Nawaz Sharif and Pervez Musharraf.
In Washington, Durrani was one of the few Pakistani ambassadors to have had a functional relationship with his Indian counterpart then, Ronen Sen. Durrani was a sea change from his predecessor in Washington, Gen. Jehangir Karamat.
It is understood that during Durrani's talks with Doval, the two men found meeting ground in Pakistan's 20-point "National Action Plan" to eradicate terrorism, announced after the school attack in Peshawar in December by terrorists.
Of special interest to India is point seven in the Action Plan, which ensures that banned organisations do not resurface under new names. India has been helpless in the past as international pressure to proscribe anti-India outfits came to nought as they merrily continued their subversive work by rechristening themselves with impunity.
Of equal interest to New Delhi is point five: countering hate speech and extremist material.
A key component of Durrani's ongoing back channel mission to New Delhi is said to be an effort to persuade the NDA government not to "muddy the waters" while Pakistan refashions its strategy to fight terror.
His meetings with Indians outside the government, who influence public opinion and discourse, are off the record and cannot, therefore, be reported. His talks with those in the government are understood to have stressed that while extremist outfits which threaten Pakistan's stability are a priority in this new strategy, those outfits targeting India will also be dismantled financially and organisationally.
It will not be lost on those who script the Modi government's US policies as a follow up to President Barack Obama's visit that along with an upswing in Indo-US relations since September, US-Pakistan relations have also seen a quantum jump in the last 18 months.
Like the Devyani Khobragade episode in Indo-US ties, the fallout from the murderous excesses of a CIA contractor led to a virtual freeze in Washington's ties with Islamabad in 2011-12. That is now behind: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has visited Islamabad and two rounds of strategic dialogue have taken place, the last round barely three weeks ago.
Realistically, Indo-US strategic relations can only be enhanced by an improvement in relations between India and Pakistan, especially a resumption of their bilateral dialogue.
On a parallel track, unofficial exchanges took place in New Delhi this week between businessmen from both sides of the border and others interested in improving the economic climate between India and Pakistan.
Most significantly, Yashwant Sinha, a BJP stalwart and former finance and external affairs minister, said at one such event that India and Pakistan should start trading in their own currencies.
"If Pakistan is not giving permission for Indian bank branches to open in Pakistan, then also there is no reason why we should not permit Pakistan banks to start operation in India."
With voices such as Sinha's rising within the ruling party, Modi's invitation to Nawaz Sharif during his swearing-in is clearly not an imagery from a past to be quietly buried.
SOURCE: Pak's 'General Shanti' touches base with Doval
K.P. Nayar
Feb. 3: Back-channel talks, now under way between India and Pakistan, may lead to the resumption of bilateral dialogue between the two countries after the formation of a new government in Jammu and Kashmir, at any rate, before the BJP-led government completes one year in office.
Maj. Gen. Mahmud Ali Durrani, who was Pakistan's ambassador in Washington and later national security adviser after retiring from the army, yesterday met Ajit Doval, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's national security adviser, and had extensive discussions.
For the record, Durrani is on a private visit to New Delhi, so officially his meeting with Doval was merely a courtesy call by someone who had Doval's counterpart job in Islamabad during the crisis of terrorist attacks on Mumbai in November 2008.
The retired general is ideally suited to be a back channel with India. His reputation favouring negotiated settlement of disputes with this country earned him the sobriquet of "General Shanti" among his sceptical colleagues at the army general headquarters in Rawalpindi.
But he earned their respect after travelling to New Delhi post the 26/11 attacks as part of efforts to defuse the situation in the light of the Mumbai violence. As a result, President Asif Ali Zardari allowed him to continue as national security adviser although Durrani was originally appointed to the post by Gen. Pervez Musharraf.
At several opportunities during his current visit to New Delhi, which began yesterday, Durrani praised R.K. Mishra, who was Atal Bihari Vajpayee's back channel with Islamabad. Mishra played a major role behind the scenes in Vajpayee's bus trip to Lahore as Prime Minister and in his later peace initiatives with both Nawaz Sharif and Pervez Musharraf.
In Washington, Durrani was one of the few Pakistani ambassadors to have had a functional relationship with his Indian counterpart then, Ronen Sen. Durrani was a sea change from his predecessor in Washington, Gen. Jehangir Karamat.
It is understood that during Durrani's talks with Doval, the two men found meeting ground in Pakistan's 20-point "National Action Plan" to eradicate terrorism, announced after the school attack in Peshawar in December by terrorists.
Of special interest to India is point seven in the Action Plan, which ensures that banned organisations do not resurface under new names. India has been helpless in the past as international pressure to proscribe anti-India outfits came to nought as they merrily continued their subversive work by rechristening themselves with impunity.
Of equal interest to New Delhi is point five: countering hate speech and extremist material.
A key component of Durrani's ongoing back channel mission to New Delhi is said to be an effort to persuade the NDA government not to "muddy the waters" while Pakistan refashions its strategy to fight terror.
His meetings with Indians outside the government, who influence public opinion and discourse, are off the record and cannot, therefore, be reported. His talks with those in the government are understood to have stressed that while extremist outfits which threaten Pakistan's stability are a priority in this new strategy, those outfits targeting India will also be dismantled financially and organisationally.
It will not be lost on those who script the Modi government's US policies as a follow up to President Barack Obama's visit that along with an upswing in Indo-US relations since September, US-Pakistan relations have also seen a quantum jump in the last 18 months.
Like the Devyani Khobragade episode in Indo-US ties, the fallout from the murderous excesses of a CIA contractor led to a virtual freeze in Washington's ties with Islamabad in 2011-12. That is now behind: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has visited Islamabad and two rounds of strategic dialogue have taken place, the last round barely three weeks ago.
Realistically, Indo-US strategic relations can only be enhanced by an improvement in relations between India and Pakistan, especially a resumption of their bilateral dialogue.
On a parallel track, unofficial exchanges took place in New Delhi this week between businessmen from both sides of the border and others interested in improving the economic climate between India and Pakistan.
Most significantly, Yashwant Sinha, a BJP stalwart and former finance and external affairs minister, said at one such event that India and Pakistan should start trading in their own currencies.
"If Pakistan is not giving permission for Indian bank branches to open in Pakistan, then also there is no reason why we should not permit Pakistan banks to start operation in India."
With voices such as Sinha's rising within the ruling party, Modi's invitation to Nawaz Sharif during his swearing-in is clearly not an imagery from a past to be quietly buried.
SOURCE: Pak's 'General Shanti' touches base with Doval
