No visa to ex-chief of ISI to visit India

Former chief of Pakistani intelligence agency ISI Asad Durrani today missed an event, where a book he co-authored with a former RAW chief was released, as he did not get an Indian visa.

The book 'The Spy Chronicles: RAW, ISI and the Illusion of Peace', which Durrani co-authored with former RAW chief A S Dulat and journalist Aditya Sinha, was released jointly by former prime minister Manmohan Singh, former vice president Hamid Ansari, former Union minister Yashwant Sinha and a few others in the event organised here.

"At the end, a very special thank to the Indian deep state. By denying me the visa, they have saved me from the wrath of our hawks. They will be happy to know that I have not yet been cleared by the South Block (which houses India's PMO and Ministries of Defence and External Affairs)," he said in a pre-recorded video message played in the event.

The book has been styled as a conversation between two spymasters covers a wide range of subjects including NSA Ajit Doval's way of functioning, the Kashmir issue and several thorny issues between India and Pakistan including Kulbhushan Jadhav, Balochistan and surgical strikes.