Book Excerpt: Essays in Mutual Comprehension
Manmohan Singh added poetically that this meeting was ‘an essay in mutual comprehension’ and that the two leaders would together write a new chapter in the history of the two countries. Musharraf presented Singh a painting of the school in Gah village (now in Pakistan), the Indian PM’s birthplace, and where he had had his initial schooling. On his part Singh again recited the Urdu couplets which he had read out to Musharraf in their phone conversation.
White House Illusion: Global Diplomacy and the 1971 Indo-Pak War
Excerpt from Anger Management Chapter 10 “A Second Partition, Third Country” Part 2 Read Here Excerpt from Anger Management Chapter 10 “A Second Partition, Third Country” Part 1 “Vorontsov and Maskevich sent reports which alarmed Moscow. The Soviets in turn started leaning on India. Indira Gandhi had to pull out her diplomatic weapons. She sent […]
Thirteen Days of Liberation: The Birth of Bangladesh
Excerpt from Anger Management Chapter 10 “A Second Partition, Third Country” Part 1 Read here Excerpt from Anger Management Chapter 10 “A Second Partition, Third Country” Part 2 “On 6 December, the Indian government announced its formal recognition of the government of Bangladesh. On the battlefield, India had an overwhelming advantage. A limited West Pakistani […]
12/13 The Parliament Attack
That afternoon, a group of officers from the PM’s security, the SPG, came in to my office. They were convinced that the PM was the primary target of the assault and thanked me for my fortuitous morning intervention. Our obsession in the PMO on ‘no pendency’ had prevented the prime minister’s carcade from crossing paths with the terrorists. Five days later, Home Minister Advani would confirm that ‘the terrorist assault on the very bastion of our democracy was clearly aimed at wiping out the country’s top political leadership.’
BOOK EXCERPT: MASSACRE IN MUMBAI
President Zardari called PM Manmohan Singh on the morning of 27 November to condemn the attacks and surprisingly, promised to send the DG of the ISI, Shuja Pasha, to help in the investigation. On the evening of 27 November, just before Qureshi addressed a group of journalists at the Women’s Press Club in New Delhi, Shahid Malik’s phone buzzed.
BOOK EXCERPT: A GRAB AT KASHMIR
The 1965 war was born of 1962, which left us looking like bumblers…. We foiled Pakistan’s resulting adventure, doubtless an achievement, albeit limited, but it turned Pakistan to other means: fomenting dissidence in our Punjab, feeding subversion elsewhere, developing terror as an instrument of policy, apart from making life difficult in J&K, while scheming its way to nuclear power. All comprehensively demonstrating an undying obsession—doing India down, wresting J&K.
BOOK EXCERPT: A TROUBLED FLIGHT IC814
As the ‘VIP carcade’ sped towards RCR, I spoke to Anand and then breathlessly told the prime minister that an Indian Airlines flight from Nepal had been hijacked and had landed at Amritsar airport; the crisis management group led by the cabinet secretary was in session and (the principal secretary) Brajesh Mishra was waiting at RCR to brief the prime minister on unfolding events.