Diplomatic Divide

Diplomatic Divide is the first volume of a publishing initiative entitled Cross-border Talks which attempts to provide a new forum to debate the issues that divide India and Pakistan. An overview of bilateral relations by two senior retired diplomats who have served as ambassadors to each other's countries, the canvas the book paints is vast, stretching from the early 1980s to the present day. It covers the end of the Cold War, the liberalisation of world trade, the growth of fundamentalism and a revolution in communications. The two accounts provide first-hand impressions of the prime movers—Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, General Zia ul Haq, Benazir Bhutto, Nawaz Sharif and General Mushrraf—as well as descriptions of significant episodes: hijacks by Kashmiri separatists, India’s Punjab crisis, ‘Operation Brass Tacks’, Vajpayee’s Bus Yatra to Lahore, the Kargil confrontation and the Agra summit. Thoughtful and insightful, Diplomatic Divide attemps to bridge the divide.