First-of-its-kind, unprecedented in its scope¬—a unique project!

HarperCollins India

is delighted to announce the publication of

T H E S P Y C H R O N I C L E S

RAW, ISI and the Illusion of Peace

A.S. DULAT, ASAD DURRANI and ADITYA SINHA

Releasing 21^st May 2018

Featuring former spy chiefs of rival nations – A.S. Dulat, who headed the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) of India, and Asad Durrani, who headed the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) of Pakistan – The Spy Chronicles is written as a conversation between the two and senior journalist Aditya Sinha, with the topics including everything affecting India-Pakistan ties currently. At a time when Indo-Pak ties are at an ebb, and there is continuing unrest in Kashmir, this is a small effort in the quest for peace in the on-again-off-again relationship between the neighbours.

According to A.S. Dulat: “Loving your country does not mean hating the other.”

“What is not good for your neighbour cannot be good for you,” added General Asad Durrani.

“The best ideas start as conversations. This one is a genuine dialogue, not two monologues.”

—Aditya Sinha

“The Spy Chronicles is possibly one of the closest looks at India-Pakistan relations. It is not often that you have two spymasters from opposite sides confer—to our knowledge, this is the first book of its kind. We hope it will make a positive contribution, and we are delighted to have worked on this unique project.” —Krishan Chopra, Publisher, Non-fiction and Business, HarperCollins India

About the book

Sometime in 2016, a series of dialogues took place which set out to find a meeting ground, even if only an illusion, between A.S. Dulat and Asad Durrani. One was a former chief of RAW, India’s external intelligence agency, the other of ISI, its Pakistani counterpart. As they could not meet in their home countries, the conversations, guided by journalist Aditya Sinha, took place in cities like Istanbul, Bangkok and Kathmandu. On the table were subjects that have long haunted South Asia, flashpoints that take lives regularly. It was in all ways a deep dive into the politics of the subcontinent, as seen through the eyes of two spymasters.

Among the subjects: Kashmir, and a missed opportunity for peace; Hafiz Saeed and 26/11; Kulbhushan Jadhav; surgical strikes; the deal for Osama bin Laden; how the US and Russia feature in the India-Pakistan relationship; and how terror undermines the two countries’ attempts at talks.

When the project was first mooted, General Durrani laughed and said nobody would believe it even if it was written as fiction. At a time of fraught relations, this unlikely dialogue between two former spy chiefs from opposite sides—a project that is the first of its kind—may well provide some answers.

In the authors’ words:

“We have tried to stay as close to the truth as we believe it to be even if some of it is regarded as fiction. The reality is that there are normally more than two sides to most stories. Truth is a kaleidoscope.” — A.S. DULAT

“Some of us are bursting with wisdom that can hardly wait to be shared. One of the more useful means to do so would indeed be an exchange amongst key players on the opposite sides—provided, of course, we were prepared to concede our faults and provide a different narrative.” — ASAD DURRANI

As the two spymasters say, they are aware of the stakes. What they say to each other, around a table, their guards down, counts for something. Their conversation goes to the heart of the India-Pakistan relationship.”—ADITYA SINHA

About the authors

A.S. DULAT was Secretary of the Research and Analysis Wing, 1999-2000.

GENERAL ASAD DURRANI was Director-General, Inter-Services Intelligence directorate, 1990-91.

ADITYA SINHA is a writer and a journalist living on the outskirts of Delhi.

For more information please write to

Smriti Khanna-Mehra at smriti.mehra@harpercollins-india.com

or Aman Arora at aman.arora@harpercollins-india.com.

HCI