Neither a Hawk Nor a Dove: An Insider's Account of Pakistan's Foreign Policy

729 Pages·2015·7.08 MB·English

by  Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri

KHURSHID MAHMUD KASURI

NEITHER A HAWK NOR A DOVE
An Insider’s Account Of Pakistan’s Foreign Policy
PENGUIN BOOKS
Contents
Preface
Chapters
1. Early Years
The Context
Family: Opposing Influences
My Paternal Family
My Maternal Family
Nawab Shams-ud-Din Ahmed Khan of Loharu and Ferozepur Jhirka Murders the British Resident
Fraser
Fane Road Residence: An Open House
2. Pakistan’s Security Dilemma: Quest for Strategic Balance
Section I
The Wounds of Partition
Dimensions of Partition
Troubled Relations with India
Assessing Liaquat Ali Khan’s Western Tilt
Pakistan-US Alliance: An Intricate Balancing Act
India and Afghanistan
Warming of Relations with China: 1963–1971
Vigour and New Vision in Foreign Policy: 1972–1977
The 1974 Islamic Summit in Lahore
Revival of Pakistan-US Alliance over Afghanistan: Repercussions
The 1990s: A Decade of Missed Opportunities
The Fallout of Nuclear Tests by India and Pakistan
Pakistan’s Troubled Relations with the Soviet Union/Russia
The 9/11 and Its Aftermath
Section II
Assuming Office: Some Background
Guiding Principles
Historical Distortions and Lessons
Cultural and Artistic Fusion
Fault-Lines between Pakistan and India
Indian Muslims
Pakistan’s Geostrategic Significance
Pakistan’s ‘National Interest’
‘Peace with Honour’
3. India: ‘A Road Less Travelled’
Return from the Brink
The Beginning of the Normalization Process with India
The Agra Summit
I Favour Civil Society Interaction
A Breakthrough in 2004
Vajpayee’s Second Visit to Pakistan in Five Years
‘The Handshake that Changed History’
India-Pakistan Joint Press Statement of 6 January 2004 in Islamabad
Reactions to the Statement
America’s Role in Pakistan-India Peace Process
Generating a Momentum for Peace
Out-of-the-Box Thinking
My First Visit to New Delhi
Natwar’s Productive Visit to Islamabad
Agreement on Allowing Kashmiri Leaders to Travel to Pakistan
Commencement of Muzaffarabad-Srinagar Bus Service
Backchannel Established
Musharraf Visits Delhi in a Carnival Atmosphere
'Great Leap Forward'—Sonia Smiles at Last!
Irreversibility of the Peace Process
Crossing the Rubicon: The Bus Service Across the LoC Compared to the Crossing of the Berlin
Wall
The Drama of L. K. Advani’s Visit to Pakistan
Kashmiri Leaders’ Visit to Pakistan—A Tentative Beginning to a Dialogue between Pakistan,
India, and the Kashmiris
Indo-Pak Showdown in New York
I Invite Natwar to Nathiagali, Where Ayub Khan Had Invited Nehru
A Case of Good Cop/Bad Cop?
Water Disputes: A Major Threat to Peace
Why Dialogue Survived Despite the 2006 Mumbai Train Bombings
Reviewing Progress on the Eight Points of the Composite Dialogue
Mukherjee Accepts My Proposal on Treatment of Prisoners
A New Dynamic at Work
The Lingering Issues of Siachen and Sir Creek
4. Interrupted Symphony: Contours of Backchannel Settlement on
Kashmir
Kashmir: The Evolving Positions of Pakistan and India
A New Kashmir Resolution?
Our Success in Preventing Deletion of Kashmir from the UN Agenda
The Envoys’ Conferences
Why the Backchannel?
Framework for a Kashmir Settlement
Contours of the Agreement on Jammu & Kashmir
Demilitarization
Centres to Wean Militants Away Through DDR: The Challenge of Non-State Actors
Self-Governance
Elections
Defining Units of Kashmir
Joint Mechanism
Common Policies towards Development and Water Resources
Monitoring and Review Process
Treaty of Peace, Security, and Friendship
Line of Control: A Line on the Map
An Evaluation of the Possible Settlement
A Response to the Criticism of Our Policy on Kashmir The Way Forward
Reducing Trust Deficit Through Creating Commonalties of Interests
Trade
Agreements for Resolving Issues Involving Disagreement
The Media and the Peace Process
Promotion of Friendly Exchanges
Student Visas
Sports
Soft Power
Culture
Films
Views of Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Mahatma Gandhi on Friendly Relations
Between India and Pakistan
Narendra Modi’s Victory: Its Likely Impact
The Cold Start Doctrine
Tactical Nuclear Weapons
5. The Pakistan Army and India
My Interactions and Observations
Pak-India Wars and Near-War Situations
The Kashmir War (1948–1949)
The 1965 Indo-Pak War
The 1971 War and Beyond: A Defining Time in Pakistan-India Relations
Near-War Crises
Operation Brasstacks
The Kashmir Crisis, 1990
The Kargil War
The Mumbai Attacks
My Interactions with the Pakistan Army Generals
‘From North Waziristan to Karachi!’
Relationship of the Army and Political Governments
Dixit’s Bombshell!
My Relationship with President Pervez Musharraf and the Issue of My ‘Resignation’
The Pakistan Army: An Obstacle to Peaceful Relations with India?
Some Observations: Army Wants a Just and Equitable Peace with India
Need for a Coordinating Body
6. Afghanistan
Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose
(The more things change, the more they stay the same)
Common Historical, Religious, Cultural, and Ethnic Bonds
Pashtunwali
Close People-to-People Contact
An Early Case of the Pashtun-Tajik Rivalry
The Idea of Pak-Afghan Confederation
Exchanges with Ethnic Leaders
Contrasting Narratives about the Security Situation in Afghanistan
My First Visit Abroad as Foreign Minister
Conference on Afghanistan
Karzai’s Inflammatory Message Prior to His Visit
Fireworks at Aiwan-e-Sadr
Karzai Asks Me: ‘Why Does Pakistan Look Down upon the Afghans!’
Pakistan at the G-8 Conference on Afghanistan in Potsdam
Pak-Afghan Bilateral Relationship
Equitable Sharing of Common Water Resources
Pak-Afghan Economic Cooperation: Full Potential of Trade Unrealized
Pakistan Is Key to Solutions in Afghanistan
Pak-India Normalization to Help in Stabilizing Afghanistan
Recent Positive Developments
7. Pakistan and the United States: ‘The Odd Couple’
Historical Perspective
‘Pakistan Succumbed to Just One Call from Washington’
Bin Laden’s Escape from Tora Bora
‘Osama bin Laden in a Pakistani Jail’
‘Welcome to the Club of Foreign Ministers’
First US Visit: Seventy-Six High-Level Interactions
The Issue of National Security Entry-Exit Registration System
The Issue of Nuclear Non-Proliferation
US Facilitation on Pak-India Dialogue
Rumsfeld Takes a Hard Line on Iraq
The US Congress Supportive
Cross-LoC Movement
Afghanistan
The Issue of Pakistani Prisoners in Guantanamo Bay and in Afghanistan Raised Forcefully
Pakistan’s Opposition to the War against Iraq
The A. Q. Khan Saga
Strengthening of Pakistan's Nuclear Oversight
Concern about Attack on Iran
Bombing of Lebanon and Tensions with the United States
A Candid Conversation with Condoleezza Rice
'Weekday Meeting' at a ‘Weekend Retreat’
Pak-US Relations Broadened
Defence Cooperation
Delivery of F-16s to Pakistan at Last!
Declaration of Pakistan as a Major Non-NATO Ally
Reimbursement of Coalition Support Fund
Economic Cooperation
Reconstruction Opportunity Zones
Earthquake Relief and Reconstruction
Civil Nuclear Energy Cooperation
Pakistan’s Reaction to the Indo-US Agreement on Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy
Meeting President Bush at the Oval Office
Preparation for the Strategic Partnership Agreement
Bush Visits Pakistan
All Lights Turned Off
A Matter of Protocol
Strategic Partnership
FATA: Pakistan Accused of Playing a ‘Double Game’ and of ‘Running with the Hare and Hunting
with the Hound’
Pakistan’s Dilemma
Peace Agreements with Militants?
Dick Cheney Visits Islamabad to Voice Concerns a bout the Waziristan Situation
Reforms in FATA
Drone Attacks in FATA
Pakistan: A Friend or a Foe?
How the Government Handled Lingering Negative Perceptions on Both Sides
Pakistan-US Relations: Likely to Endure Despite Problems
8. Pakistan’s Diplomatic Outreach: Proactive Engagement with the
World
China: Strengthening a Strategic Relationship
Nuclear Power Plants
The Silk Route
China-Pakistan Economic Corridor from Gwadar to Kashgar
Chinese Experience and Lessons for Pakistan
China and India
Human Resource Development and Educational Reforms in China
Pivot to Asia
‘Get Closer to China; Call OIC Meeting’ Syndrome
Russia
Pak-Russian Relationsa fter 9/11
Events in the Crimea
Complex Relations with Some Leading Muslim Countries and Challenge for Pakistan
Turkish-Saudi-Iranian Relations
Saudi Arabia: A Reliable and Trusted Friend
The Gulf Region
Turkey: Special Relationship with Pakistan
Iran: Old Cultural and Historical Bonds
Meeting with the Israeli Foreign Minister: A Politically Risky Enterprise
‘Why Are You More Palestinian than the Palestinians Themselves?’
Bangladesh
Improving Relations with Britain
Major Democracies of the Commonwealth
The European Union
Japan
The International Community’s Heart-Warming
Response Following the Earthquake
9. The Foreign Office
Section I
Does the Foreign Office Formulate Foreign Policy?
Historical Perspective
Pakistani Diplomats: ‘A Formidable Group’
The Golden Age of the United Nations
The Coordinating Role of the Foreign Office in the 1960s
Active Role of the Foreign Office in the Opening-Up of Relations with China
Pakistan Without a Foreign Minister During the 1971 War
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto: A Deep Imprint on the Foreign Policy of Pakistan
The Afghan Jihad and Decline in the Role of the Foreign Office
A Period of ‘Systemic Failure’
The Palestine Initiative: Go-Slow Approach Adopted
The Role of the Foreign Office After 9/11
Invaluable Role of the Foreign Office in Ensuring Civil Nuclear Cooperation with China
Indispensable Work of the Foreign Office
The Foreign Office and the Backchannel on Kashmir
Need for a High-Level Inter-Ministerial Coordination Committee
An Effective Foreign Office Team
Periodic Consultations with Former Foreign Secretaries and Others
The Growing Importance of Women Foreign Service Officers
Misperceptions about the Quality of Life of Pakistani Diplomats
Section II
Media and Public Diplomacy
The Role of Personal Relationships in Diplomacy
Illustrations
Footnotes
1. Early Years
Notes
1. Early Years
2. Pakistan’s Security Dilemma: Quest for Strategic Balance
3. India: ‘A Road Less Travelled’
4. Interrupted Symphony: Contours of Backchannel Settlement on Kashmir
5. The Pakistan Army and India
6. Afghanistan
7. Pakistan and the United States: ‘The Odd Couple’
8. Pakistan’s Diplomatic Outreach: Proactive Engagement with the World
9. The Foreign Office
Acknowledgements
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