Visa delayed: Ex-ISI chief Durrani likely to miss book launch in Delhi

Former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief Lt General Asad Durrani is unlikely to attend the launch of his book “The Spy Chronicles: RAW, ISI and the Illusion of Peace” that he has co-authored with former Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) chief AS Dulat along with Indian journalist Aditya Sinha in New Delhi later this week, as the Indian government has not issued him a visa for New Delhi so far.

In the book, the former Indian spymaster has asked his government to extend an invitation to Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa so that dialogue process between the countries could be restarted.

Both authors described the people-to-people contact between both countries as a “low hanging fruit” that could be used to resume cricket ties as well.

Durrani said, “The agreement to have a joint anti-terror mechanism would have been a great achievement for both. Alas, that was not to be.”

Speaking about India’s National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, the former ISI chief says in the book, “The upshot is he is just doing what his boss wants to be done, maybe more muscularly and more vocally.”

Dulat, however, said, “He toes Modi’s line, he also toed Mani Dixit’s line and at one point-toed Narayanan’s line and he is convinced that Modi is the greatest thing that has happened to India.”

Speaking about Kulbhushan Jadhav’s arrest, the former RAW chief reportedly said, “If it were a RAW operation and he was a RAW spy, then it was a pretty sloppy operation.”