Lt. Gen. (retd) Asad Durrani authored 'The Spy Chronicles: RAW, ISI and the Illusion of Peace' along with former RAW chief Amarjit Singh Dulat and scribe Aditya Sinha

The Pakistan army on Saturday summoned former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Chief Lieutenant General (retd) Asad Durrani on May 28 to the General Headquarters for an explanation over his co-authoring a controversial book with a former Indian intelligence chief.“He will be asked to explain his position on views attributed to him in the book ‘Spy Chronicles’ Attribution (is being) taken as (a) violation of Military Code of Conduct applicable on all serving and retired military personnel,” The Express Tribune reported citing an announcement made by DG ISPR Major General Asif Ghafoor via Twitter.

Lt. Gen. (retd.) Durrani has co-authored The Spy Chronicles: RAW, ISI and the Illusion of Peace with former Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) chief Amarjit Singh Dulat and Indian journalist Aditya Sinha.

‘Gillani knew about Seals op against Osama’

Lt. Gen. (retd.) Durrani made certain observations including a claim that then Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani was fully onboard regarding the US Navy Seals operation against al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad and that a special deal was struck between the US and Pakistani governments in this regard.

He also went on to suggest that Pakistan mishandled the case of convicted Indian spy Kulbushan Jadhav, claiming he would eventually be handed over to India.

Military sources said that GHQ had serious reservations over some of the comments in the book, terming them baseless and contrary to facts.

Sort of a clarification

It was because of this reason Lt. Gen. Durrani was asked to clarify his position in the context of the military code of conduct that bars any serving or retired military official from making remarks that compromise the country’s national security.

“No one is above the law,” said a military source while citing the reason behind summoning the ex-spy chief.

The development came after several people including politicians questioned how a retired general could co-author a book with a former RAW chief.