ASSEMBLY POLL '98
COMMENTARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
YEH HAI INDIA!
ELECTIONS '98
ARCHIVES

Ex ISI boss dissuades Pakistan on peace talks

Former Inter-Services Intelligence chief General (retired) Asad Durrani doesn't want Pakistan to have peace talks until India ''is helpless and cannot keep the (Kashmir) valley with it any longer.''

In an interview to the Urdu daily Jang, Gen Durrani said when Pakistan says it will resolve the issue through negotiations, it really means that it is willing to stop insisting on the implementation of the United Nations resolutions on Kashmir.

''India does not accept the UN resolution. When we say we can resolve Kashmir through talks, it sees in it our willingness to do without (the UN resolutions),'' he said.

''It means we are ready for a give-and-take (deal),'' he added.

He said the time was not ripe for holding peace negotiations on Kashmir. ''We should talk when we are in a position to get the maximum out of it.''

General Durrani is not the only former chief to oppose talks with India on Kashmir. Gen Hamid Gul too is carrying on a campaign against India-Pak talks.

UNI

Tell us what you think of this report