Kargil was bad, says ex-Pak NSA

Ajay Kaul

New Delhi, Sep 11 (PTI) Former Pakistan National
Security Adviser Maj Gen (retd) Mahmood Ali Durrani has
described the Kargil adventure as "bad" and favoured a probe
to fix responsibility for it.

"Kargil was bad, it was bad part (of Indo-Pak
history)," he told PTI here in an interview when asked about
his views on the Pakistani aggression of 1999.

He noted that a blame-game has been going on between
former President Pervez Musharraf and former Prime Minister
Nawaz Sharif for the military adventure in Ladakh region that
led to a three-month long conflict between the two countries.

Asked whether there should be a probe to ascertain who
actually in Pakistan was responsible for triggering the
conflict, Durrani replied "Yes, there should be. If somebody
is wrong, he should be held responsible... Some decision
should be made."

Durrani, who has served in various key positions in
Pakistani Army and was Military Secretary to former President
Zia-ul Haq, is pitching for friendly ties between the two
countries but points out that mistrust is one of the biggest
hurdles in this regard.

"There is very deep-rooted mistrust. There is no magic
wand that you wave and mistrust goes. It can only be small and
incremental steps of confidence building that will remove the
mistrust," he said.

Durrani, who was sacked as NSA in January after he
publicly acknowledged Pakistani nationality of Ajmal Kasab,
the lone terrorist captured during Mumbai attack, favoured
increased interactions between India and Pakistan, including
between the spy masters, to remove the mistrust.

"I want you to believe Pakistanis are good people,
Pakistani intelligence is not bad. We have to sit down and
talk like human beings. There is so much of acrimony. We have
to dehumanise the relationship," he said.

Contending that the kind of talks held between the two
countries is not good enough, he said "I can talk with you, I
can give you my point of view, you can give me your point of
view, we shake hands and go away. That is not talking."

He said talking involves "give and take, you listen to
each other, you re-adjust your positions. You have to move
from your rigid stand, we have to move from rigid stand. That
is called dialogue."

Giving examples, he referred to Siachen issue and said
both India and Pakistan have certain positions which they
articulate.

"If you keep on sticking to your rigid stand, you are
not going anywhere... We have to compromise," Durrani said,
suggesting that both countries should accommodate each other's
views.

He said the political leadership of both the countries
should give "guidance" to the bureaucrats, military and
intelligence units, who otherwise are "status quo people". PTI
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