RAW and ISI: Enemies at border, drinking buddies at parties

LAHORE - While The Spy Chronicles: RAW, ISI and the Illusion of Peace - co-authored by former spy chiefs' of RAW and Pakistan - opened many pathways to the spooky world of spying, one interesting thing really caught our attention. The book didn't only discuss mainstream ideas like Afghanistan, Kashmir, and Kargil, but also the hidden side of relations between  ISI and RAW officers.

One instance of such relations is when two former chiefs' of respective spy agencies shared a Black Label and discussed 'choreographing surgical strikes'.

https://en.dailypakistan.com.pk/pakistan/how-to-choreograph-surgical-strike-former-isi-chiefs-suggestion-to-ex-raw-chief/

Not only, officers of ISI and RAW enjoyed occasional drinks, but former RAW chief also shared a story of offering a drink to a Pakistani businessman, when Musharraf visited India in 2005 to watch cricket.

According to Dulat, " When Musharraf came to Delhi in April 2005 to watch cricket, around that time we had a few friends and family out on the lawn and a cousin of mine arrived with a Pakistani friend. He was a businessman in Lahore or Karachi. I said, welcome, have a drink. When he was leaving he said, I could have been in Lahore or Karachi. There’s no difference between there and here."

Dulat also claimed that Americans favored Musharraf because he was English-speaking and enjoyed whiskey. Dulat made these claims as following, "As for Musharraf the general, the army chief, the president—I don’t know anything other than what the Americans said, that he’s a good guy, English-speaking, whiskey-drinking. We can do business with him."

The ex-RAW chief also pointed out that National Security Advisors (NSA) of the two countries might have had a drink, "A lot of positives come out of meetings and engaging, talking, dialogue. The engagement between the two NSAs was positive while it lasted, the Pakistani side says there is nothing now. They talk on the telephone and nothing beyond that, which is unfortunate when you’ve got a good thing and you like to have a smoke together and sit down and possibly have a drink. Why would you not want to continue that? You’ve got nothing to lose, and everything to gain."

Amrit Singh Dulat also talked about the shock Americans or Canadian had to go in, when they saw Pakistanis and Indians having a drink together, "When we Indians and Pakistanis sit down in the evening, whatever the provocation across the table, and have a drink, it shocks these Canadians and Americans who watch. These swines, they must be thinking, so much mud-slinging happens and yet they get along so well."

Former RAW chief talked about another occasion when he and Muhammad Asad Durrani shared a drink when they co-chaired a meeting on Terrorism. According to Dulat, "There were three of us at the first few meetings, including Vicky Sood [Secretary RAW], 7 and we were laughing about ‘happy hours’. General Saheb said these sessions would go on, but that the three of us should talk separately. The three of us sat down with glasses of whiskey and started talking. More openly and honestly."