Pak feared Indian air strikes after Mumbai attack: Kasuri

[Jaswinder Singh Baidwan]

Former Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri today claimed that a US delegation led by former US presidential candidate John McCain had met him in the aftermath of 26/11 terror attacks expressing apprehensions that India may carry out surgical air strikes at the headquarters of terror outfits JuD and LeT near Lahore.
During an interview to a TV channel, Kasuri said the delegation which also included Republican Senator Lindsey Graham and Richard Holbrooke, US Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan had visited Lahore.
“I was no longer Foreign Minister. I received a call from an American diplomat that so and so is coming. We would like you to talk to him first and then there would be a quiet lunch,” Kasuri said ahead of the launch of his book “Neither A Hawk Nor A Dove” here this week.
Kasuri said they sought his opinion as a politician and someone who had headed the Foreign Office for five years on what would be the likely reaction of the Pakistan Army and the people at large if there was a limited Indian air raid on Muridke.
He quoted McCain as saying: “We have come from India where there is a lot of anger. Supposing there is limited strike on Muridke, the headquarters of JuD.”
Kasuri told McCain that the Pakistan army will give a “measured” response in case of a strike inside its territory. “I said what do you mean? He (McCain) said supposing there is an air strike. I said are you trying to prevent a war? He said we think that may well prevent a war. I said Pakistan army will give a measured response.”

 

[Era]

Kasuri, Kulkarni talk unity and tolerance at Mumbai book launch

Mumbai stands for peace and dialogue between India and Pakistan, said writer and columnist Sudheendra Kulkarni, hours after he had his face blackened by alleged Shiv Sena activists for inviting former Pakistan foreign minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri to release his book in the city.
“We shall defend and safeguard the values that Mumbai has stood for; we will not let any organisation trample those values,” he said at a function attended by Kasuri.
Kulkarni has alleged that a group of around a dozen alleged Sena activists accosted him when he was leaving his home in Sion, southcentral Mumbai, early Monday morning.
They shouted slogans and asked him to cancel the event to release Kasuri’s book and then allegedly smeared him with black ink.
An ally in the state’s ruling coalition and at the centre, the Shiv Sena has strongly opposed the function to launch Kasuri’s book “Neither a Hawk Nor a Dove: An Insider Account of Pakistan’s Foreign Policy”.
At the book launch, Kulkarni said: “I have told (Shiv Sena chief) Uddhav Thackeray ji that he shouldn’t think that every Pakistani is against India.”
“New history can only be created through dialogue...the two governments must continue dialogue. Our function is in that direction,” Kulkarni said.
For his part, Kasuri thanked Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis for providing him “excellent protection”.
“The purpose of writing this book is to correct some misconceptions,” he said.
“PM Modi made a promise of development, but we have to have peace. I hope the PM realises that (former PM) AB Vajpayee’s route was the right one,” Kausri was quoted by ANI as saying.

 

[Era]

Kasuri, Kulkarni talk unity and tolerance at Mumbai book launch

Mumbai stands for peace and dialogue between India and Pakistan, said writer and columnist Sudheendra Kulkarni, hours after he had his face blackened by alleged Shiv Sena activists for inviting former Pakistan foreign minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri to release his book in the city.
“We shall defend and safeguard the values that Mumbai has stood for; we will not let any organisation trample those values,” he said at a function attended by Kasuri.
Kulkarni has alleged that a group of around a dozen alleged Sena activists accosted him when he was leaving his home in Sion, southcentral Mumbai, early Monday morning.
They shouted slogans and asked him to cancel the event to release Kasuri’s book and then allegedly smeared him with black ink.
An ally in the state’s ruling coalition and at the centre, the Shiv Sena has strongly opposed the function to launch Kasuri’s book “Neither a Hawk Nor a Dove: An Insider Account of Pakistan’s Foreign Policy”.
At the book launch, Kulkarni said: “I have told (Shiv Sena chief) Uddhav Thackeray ji that he shouldn’t think that every Pakistani is against India.”
“New history can only be created through dialogue...the two governments must continue dialogue. Our function is in that direction,” Kulkarni said.
For his part, Kasuri thanked Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis for providing him “excellent protection”.
“The purpose of writing this book is to correct some misconceptions,” he said.
“PM Modi made a promise of development, but we have to have peace. I hope the PM realises that (former PM) AB Vajpayee’s route was the right one,” Kausri was quoted by ANI as saying.