Pakistan Army Summons Former ISI Head Asad Durrani Over Book Co-authored With Ex-RAW Chief

Durrani was summoned after ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Friday demanded an urgent meeting of the high-powered NSC

Written by: India.com News Desk

Updated: May 26, 2018, 4:42 PM IST

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Islamabad, May 26: Pakistan’s army has summoned former ISI chief Asad Durrani to seek his explanation over a book he co-authored with India’s ex-spy chief AS Dulat, accusing him of ‘violating’ the military code of conduct. Lieutenant General (retd) Durrani, who headed the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency from August 1990 till March 1992, along with Dulat has written “The Spy Chronicles: RAW, ISI and the Illusion of Peace”. The book was released on Wednesday.

The Pakistan Army in a statement said that Durrani was being called to General Headquarters (GHQ) on May 20 and “will be asked to explain his position on views attributed to him in book ‘Spy Chronicles’.” “Attribution taken as violation of Military Code of Conduct applicable on all serving and retired military personnel,” according to the statement issued last night.

Lt Gen Asad Durrani, Retired being called in GHQ on 28th May 18. Will be asked to explain his position on views attributed to him in book ‘Spy Chronicles’. Attribution taken as violation of Military Code of Conduct applicable on all serving and retired military personnel.

— Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor (@OfficialDGISPR) May 25, 2018

Durrani was summoned after ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Friday demanded an urgent meeting of the high-powered National Security Committee (NSC) to discuss the content of the book. Former chairman Pakistan Senate Raza Rabbani criticised the book by rival spy chiefs.

“Had a politician done the same thing he would have been labelled a traitor,” he said.

The Spy Chronicles: RAW, ISI and the Illusion of Peace” is written jointly with Aditya Sinha and also touches upon other key issues such as a comparison of RAW and ISI, Hafiz Saeed and even a freewheeling talk on the idea of ‘Akhand Bharat’, among many others. Several other politicians in Pakistan, including former Chairman of the Senate of Pakistan Raza Rabbani, have expressed their concerns over the book.

Dulat and Durrani met in cities like Istanbul, Bangkok and Kathmandu and their meetings produced a total of over 1.7 lakh words, about half of which find mention into the book.

The book was released jointly by former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, former Vice President Hamid Ansari, former Union minister Yashwant Sinha and other important figures from the political sphere here on Wednesday.

(With agencies inputs)