Lahore, 8 Sept.: At an event held at a local hotel, Oxford University Press launched its latest publication Neither a Hawk nor a Dove: An Insider’s Account of Pakistan’s Foreign Relations Including Details of the Kashmir Framework by Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri. This book is the first comprehensive account by a Pakistani Foreign Minister who contributed in moving the peace process with India forward. Kasuri writes candidly about his Indian counterparts and provides a detailed analysis of the Kashmir issue and the complex Pakistan-US-Afghanistan-India quadrangular relationship. The book features rare insights into the workings of the Pakistan Army and the contributions of the Foreign Office. Kasuri also elaborates on Pakistan’s relations with China, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Iran.
Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri took part in various political movements for democracy in Pakistan including the PNA (Pakistan National Alliance), MRD (Movement for the Restoration of Democracy), and the PDA (Pakistan Democratic Alliance). He served as Pakistan’s Foreign Minister from 2002–07 and assumed office in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 when Pakistan faced challenges with the US, India, and Afghanistan. Khurshid Kasuri is currently Chairman of the Regional Peace Institute, an Islamabad based think tank. He is Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) Senior Advisor on Political and International Affairs, Chairman of its Task Force on Kashmir, and a member of the party’s Core Committee.
During a stimulating panel discussion between the author and the distinguished journalists, Najam Sethi, Mujeebur Rehman Shami, Arif Nizami, and Rashid Rehman, Kasuri emphasized that whenever two statesmen are at the helm in India and Pakistan, for improvement of relations, they would have to revert to the framework formulated during his tenure as Foreign Minister.
While speaking on the occasion, the keynote speaker, Mani Shankar Aiyar, Member of Parliament of Indian rajya sabha, said that Kasuri’s narrative is intricately balanced, with the author providing anecdotes, both personal and political, alongside his observations on serious issues. “On foreign policy matters, he deals objectively with those on the other side of the political divide,” he further added.
Earlier in her welcome address, Ameena Saiyid, Managing Director, Oxford University Press Pakistan, introduced the author and said, “Mr Kasuri’s time in office was one during which our relations with our neighbour became healthier and more nuanced; when a number of new initiatives were launched and it became possible to think about out-of-the-box solutions to the issues that bedevil relations between the two countries; when one felt the first, frail breaths of an Aman ki Asha beginning to blow both ways across our borders.”
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