‘TAKE WHAT YOU CAN GET’: WE MUST ACT ON BHUTTO’S ADVISE ON KASHMIR.
Former Director General (DG) Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Lt Gen (retd) Asad Durrani suggests that neither India nor Pakistan can take or leave the entire Kashmir. Instead of a divided or jointly administered Kashmir, or any other formula we must act upon Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s advice of ‘Take what you can get’.
The two former spymasters of India and Pakistan who jointly wrote a book ‘The spy chronicles’ and have discussed burning issues between the two countries, including Kargil operation, US Navy SEALs operation in Abbottabad killing Osama Bin Laden, Kulbhushan Jadhav’s arrest, Hafiz Saeed, Kashmir, Burhan Wani and many others.
According to the former DG ISI, Indian Prime Minister Modi is a ‘Fox’ and Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is a ‘Camel’ on the international relations. Leaders like Modi suits ISI and they are the agency’s preference because hardliners can take hard decisions. In 1998, BJP government carried out nuclear tests which provided a golden opportunity to Pakistan to do the same. He believes that hardliner political parties in India like BJP may be able to take decisions the Congress was unable to do.
Gen (retd) Durrani believes ‘From Conflict to Cooperation’ might be a reasonable slogan for Kashmir dispute. Keeping the importance of Kashmir dispute between India and Pakistan in view, the two spymasters have discussed the issue in detail. The book contains six dedicated chapters on Kashmir.
According to General (retd) Durrani, “There is no direct solution of Kashmir dispute. Instead of a divided or jointly administered Kashmir, or any other formula that has been talked of, there should be an indirect and incremental approach, starting with little steps, like bus and trade”.
“Bhutto’s advice was so good. I don’t know how these things keep getting missed; do we want all or nothing? Is it just take it or leave it? When we want all or nothing, we are likely to get nothing. But also, whoever asked you to take it or leave it was also likely testing your nerve. So, as Bhutto said: ‘Take what you can get”, says the former spy chief.
Durrani suggests that Delhi and Islamabad should take a backseat and let the simple movements, a little trade and people be involved in these matters. “We don’t have to reinvent it. People before us, wiser people, have found a way by starting at the people’s level. Simple movement, a little trade, let them be involved in these matters while Delhi and Islamabad take a backseat. Once the people feel comfortable they might themselves say: ‘We don’t want to be the main issue between you two countries, which might lead to war, etc. We’re all right as we are. No change in status, nothing big. The two countries, you’d be better off following our example. But the approach has to be indirect. Instead of saying we want a divided or jointly administered Kashmir, or any other formula that has been talked of, I’d suggest an indirect and incremental approach, starting with little steps, like bus and trade, etc”.
“Continue without saying what you want at the end. When it comes to conflict resolution, it has to be an evolutionary process. And everyone must always remember the conventional wisdom: you don’t always get what you want. Take whatever you can. You never have to say it is over. Khatam, chhutti. You take it, improve your position, and after a decent interval of five, eight or ten years you come back and ask, but what about the return of the refugees? In Kashmir’s case, this may be how you discuss the solution,” says Gen (retd) Durrani.
The former RAW chief, A.S Dulat, while talking about the Kashmir dispute, says, “The story is that before Sheikh Abdullah went ahead with the Afzal Beg accord in 1975, he sent Dr Farooq Abdullah to Pakistan. Dr Farooq went and met Z.A. Bhutto, who is supposed to have told him: ‘At this point we can do nothing to help you. So, take what you can get. If you’re offered peace and power in Kashmir, take it”.
Dulat further says that there was also a story in Kashmir that Yasin Malik was advised by the Americans to do business with Delhi. When Yasin said that Delhi was unreasonable, they said: ‘You should take what you can get.’ They said it was not the final arrangement, but if something is on offer, grab it. Call it the semifinal or quarterfinal; and who knows what may happen? ‘Take what you can get, that’s good enough,’ this is the essence of what Dr. Farooq Abdullah repeatedly advocates. In Kashmir, you can’t change anything.
“What is theirs is theirs, what is ours is ours. There’s no point in pretending. We have to settle on the Line of Control. This can be done in various ways, and maybe not as crudely as Farooq puts it. But that was also the essence of Musharraf’s four part formula: LoC-plus. The LoC cosmetically dressed up so that both sides won, neither lost. That’s where forward movement lies. Pakistan is sitting pretty as the situation in Kashmir suits them. Delhi seems to think that we’re all right, there’s no problem in Kashmir,” says the former RAW chief.
Talking about Modi’s election as Indian Prime Minister, the former DG ISI says, “The reaction in Pakistan to Modi’s election was that it served India right. Let Modi take care of India, destroy its image, and possibly destroy its inner balance. I’ve not been impressed by his antics. What did he mean crash-landing after giving Pakistan an earful in Afghanistan? He comes to Raiwind to attend Nawaz Sharif’s granddaughter’s wedding, and his drama and tamasha merely created spectacular confusion. People were shell-shocked and just stood there. I prefer someone like Vajpayee who did not deliver but his approach was right.”
Talking about who is ISI’s preferred leader in India, General Durrani says, “The ISI’s preference is because hardliners can take hard decisions. This reminds me of an episode, the end of 1997, before the ’98 election that the BJP won. I published an article in The News, Islamabad, ‘Who’s afraid of the Indian wolf’, on how we need not worry about the BJP coming to power because it might turn out to be good for us. If nothing else, the illusion of India being a secular-led country would go. After a few weeks there was an explosion in Coimbatore, where Advani was to address a meeting. It probably added to the BJP’s support base, not very big in south India. After this explosion, a paper in Switzerland picked up my piece and linked it to the Coimbatore blast, saying that since Durrani says a BJP win would be good for them, the ISI may be behind the blast. They got elected, and I said I hope they carry out a nuclear test because that will give us a golden opportunity to do the same. The Vajpayee government gave us the impression that a Muslim-baiter in power in India would not necessarily be a bad thing. This party may be able to take decisions the Congress was unable to”.
According to General (retd) Durrani, “Modi is a showman. He likes theatrics. He likes to keep people guessing. He knows that after reading the riot act to Pakistan in Dhaka and Kabul, if he crashlands in Lahore, people will be wonderstruck and say, here is the man of the moment. Here is a man we can do business with. But he has no intention of doing good for the region; his only thought is of creating an impact back home. He’s smart”.
Talking about Nawaz Sharif’s politics, the former DG ISI says, “With Mian Saheb it is not the chemistry that works because Mian Saheb does not work chemically. He works at best instinctively or probably driven by business and financial consideration. He understands how to survive politically at home; but on international relations he has the acumen of a camel”.
Source: The News Islamabad, May 25, 2018.