INDIA
In his forthcoming part-history-part-memoir titled How India Sees the World, Shyam Saran has claimed that he and his Pakistani counterpart Riaz Mohammad Khan were close to breakthrough
In 2006, the stage was set between India and Pakistan to clinch a deal over the issue of Siachen — the world's highest battlefield where the climate has claimed more lives than gunfire — but the process was scuttled by India's then National Security Advisor (NSA) MK Narayanan, former Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran has claimed.
In his forthcoming part-history-part-memoir titled How India Sees the World, Saran has claimed that he and his Pakistani counterpart Riaz Mohammad Khan were close to breakthrough. He has claimed that the deal was even consented by the Indian Army, and mentioned its finer points, including current positions of the forces of the two countries, the positions to which they would withdraw, a schedule for redeployment, and a joint monitoring mechanism to prevent mutual intrusions. All this would have been recorded in an annexure to the main agreement.
In their tumultuous relations, India and Pakistan had already missed two possible deals on the Himalayan territory — located as high as 20,000 feet above sea level — in 1989 and 1992.
"To give the document additional strength, we insisted, and the Pakistani side agreed, that both the agreement and the annexure will be signed, and that the main agreement will explicitly declare that the annexure had the same legal validity as the agreement itself," records Saran, who also worked as adviser to then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Prime Minister Singh, who was keen on the agreement had directed the Foreign Secretary to obtain a consensus from all key stakeholders. "I did many rounds of consultations, both at the senior bureaucratic and ministerial levels in the ministries of defence, home and finance (whose members are part of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS)," he said.
Saran claimed that then Army Chief General JJ Singh and the chiefs of all intelligence agencies were also brought on board.
The deal was consented by the Army and its intricate technical details including the points and timing of redeployment and also the phases in which it would have been implemented and the structure of the monitoring mechanism were actually worked out by the Director-General Of Military Operations.
After all this exercise, when approval from the CCS was seen as a mere formality, the deal was aborted after Narayanan launched a bitter offensive. The draft agreement, along with the annexures, had been put together in a note to the CCS for approval so that it could be presented as a proposal from the Indian side at the India–Pakistan Defence Secretary-level talks scheduled for May 2006. The note had been examined and agreed to by all relevant stakeholders and agencies. The CCS approval was, therefore, expected to come as a matter of course.
"When the CCS meeting was held on the eve of the Defence Secretary-level talks, the NSA launched an offensive, saying that Pakistan could not be trusted, and that there will be political and public opposition to any such initiative and that India's military position in the northern sector vis-à-vis both Pakistan and China will be compromised. General Singh, who had happily gone along with the proposal in its earlier iterations, now decided to join Narayanan in rubbishing it," records Saran in the book.
In the meeting, Home Minister Shivraj Patil and Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee decided to play it safe and proposed the deferment of its consideration until further study. The Prime Minister, who was keen to see the deal through, chose to keep silent. In the ensuing exchange of words, Narayanan, went further suggesting that Siachen be taken off the agenda of India–Pakistan talks entirely and that this should be communicated to the visiting Pakistani Defence Secretary at forthcoming talks. At this stage, Mukherjee stepped in to support Saran. He pointed out that Rajiv Gandhi himself had agreed to include Siachen in the India–Pakistan dialogue.
Saran recalls that in 2007, when he visited a couple of high-altitude posts at the Siachen Glacier as part of a border infrastructure survey, he informally asked stationed officers it they would support a mutual withdrawal by India and Pakistan from the glacier. "The answer was an unqualified yes. I then asked whether we could risk Pakistani occupation of the area vacated by us. The officers replied that nothing better could happen because the Pakistanis would suffer 'what we have been going through these past several years," he records in the book. The opportunity to finally resolve a long-standing issue and a constant source of bitterness in Pakistan was lost.
Saran has also referred to Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and President Pervez Musharraf's back channel and confidential talks on Kashmir at their January 2004 meeting in Islamabad, which continued during Manmohan Singh's era as well. He also mentions another tiff with Narayanan, when he tried to rock the boat of the Indo-US nuclear deal. Even though being chief negotiator, Narayanan had excluded him from an apex committee consisting of the Department Of Atomic Energy and PMO officials.
"It often turned out that I was negotiating with William Burns on one side and the PMO on the other. Narayanan became the interlocutor between the negotiating team and the DAE, which seemed to be convinced that we were about to sell the store to the Americans," he added.
Two fall prey to Narayana Murthy and Mukesh Ambani's deepfake videos, lose Rs 80 lakh: Report
North Korea fires multiple ballistic missiles toward sea ahead of US election
Deepika Padukone romances Hrithik Roshan in Bikini, looks sizzling hot in UNSEEN viral video
Chhath Puja 2024: Top 50 wishes, What'sApp messages, quotes to share with your loved ones
Meet Caroline Emmons, Ratan Tata's 'first love' with whom he couldn't marry due to...
Who is Rohan Jaitley, frontrunner to replace Jay Shah as BCCI secretary?
World’s most expensive human tooth is valued over Rs 3000000, it belonged to…
Viral video: Little girl’s adorable dance to Lisa Haydon’s 'Manali Trance' impresses internet, watch
SC to deliver its verdict on pleas against Allahabad HC order scrapping UP madrasa law today
DNA TV Show: Why Election Commission changed Assembly by-elections' dates
Days after imposing fine on Anil Ambani, Sebi now issues Rs 130 crore demand notices to...
Thailand announces indefinite visa-free entry for Indian travellers
Meet daughter of billionaire, who studied in UK, now works in Rs 32770 crore Indian company as...
MUDA case: Lokayukta police summon Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah for questioning on...
This city is 4000 years old, belongs to bronze age where 500 people lived, it is located in...
Kamala Harris has been the President of US before? Here's when and how
Meet son-in-law of billionaire whose net worth is Rs 38690 crore, he co-founded...
What is elimination inflammation diet that helped Vidya Balan lose weight?
Shah Rukh Khan feels breathless after quitting smoking: Know withdrawal symptoms, how to manage them
Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal takes action on vendor for mislabelling mushrooms at Hyperpure warehouse
Mukesh Ambani's Reliance shares fell by 3%, loses Rs 50205 crore in one day due to...
IAF's MiG-29 crashes near Agra in Uttar Pradesh, pilot ejects safely, court of inquiry ordered
Driving Growth and Monetization at Zendesk: A Conversation with Darshit Thakkar
Can air pollution make you fat? Know how high AQI impact your health
Locanto Addresses Challenges and Innovations in Indian Education System
Nita Ambani stuns in floral co-ord set while Anant, Mukesh Ambani go casual in Dubai
Indian Railway to launch this 'SUPER APP', passengers can now..., know details here
Who is Rashmi Shukla, IPS officer whom EC removed as Maharashtra DGP?
This village in India allows men to have two wives, living under one roof due to…
AUS vs PAK, 1st ODI: Australia beat Pakistan by 2 wickets to take 1-0 lead in series
Singham Again’s sole aim is to entertain, it’s not Hindutva propaganda
Delhi pollution: 'Why firecracker ban was not implemented during Diwali,' SC asks police, govt
IPL 2025 mega auction likely to be held in Riyadh on these dates
Big update on Reliance Jio IPO as Mukesh Ambani eyes THIS date
EC reschedules UP, Punjab, Kerala bypolls from Nov 13 to...
Coldplay's Chris Martin falls through stage trap door while performing live in Australia
Meet man, who is rising star in Tata Group after Ratan Tata's death, now tasked with...
'Nice handwriting': Internet reacts to Elon Musk's physics homework from his college days
AIIMS INI CET 2025 admit card releasing today at aiimsexams.ac.in; when and how to download
Sustainability Meets Innovation via uPVC: Industry expert shares experience
Promoting innovation in engineering education
AP TET 2024 exam result declared at aptet.apcfss.in; steps to check
AI-Powered Development: Insights from industry leaders on transforming software engineering
Another BIG move by BSNL, now set to provide tough competition to Jio, Airtel, Vi by...
Uttarakhand Bus Accident: 36 dead after bus falls into gorge in Almora; rescue operations underway
Bigg Boss 18: Vivian D'Sena accuses Chahat Pandey of pooping on floor, latter loses her cool
One of India's best wicketkeepers set to retire after this season, won't play IPL too, he is...
Research shows awe-inspiring details about Black Holes, they can...
US Presidential Election 2024: Harris vs Trump goes down to the wire, say polls
AP TET 2024 exam result to be declared today on aptet.apcfss.in, when and how to check
Shampoo, tea, biscuits, oil to get costlier soon? FMCG firms caution price hike as...
Swiggy fined Rs 35000 for duping Hyderabad customer by doing THIS
Delhi pollution: Air quality in Delhi-NCR further deteriorates, AQI hits 'severe' level
Indian mission condemns attack on Hindu devotees at Canada temple by ‘anti-India’ elements
'Upar se leke neeche tak...': Bigg Boss 18's Kashish Kapoor, Eisha Singh get into ugly spat
Man grows 500 kg pumpkin, uses it as boat to sail 70 km, SEE PIC
Devotees at Banke Bihari Temple drink AC water believing it to be 'Charan Amrit'; WATCH viral video
Bank Holidays in November: Banks to remain closed for four days in THESE states, full list here