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New Delhi, Oct. 17 -- When General Clausewitz famously declared that war was continuation of politics by other means, he may not have had India and Pakistan in mind, but 19th century Europe. But one got to witness a completely different version of it in Mumbai last week, when thuggish right wing elements sought to most unceremoniously disrupt the launch of former Pakistani foreign minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri's book, Neither a Hawk Nor a Dove .
Shiv Sena activists poured black soot on former BJP leader Sudheendra Kulkarni because he was going to attend the book's launch. They, of course, could not black out Kulkarni, who boldly went ahead.
The Mumbai incident is emblematic of a sobering foreign-policy lesson Kasuri alludes to, for good measure, in his book: public mood and opposition parties, to a large extent, wield influence over the foreign policies of India and Pakistan. This is sometimes the more difficult hurdle to cross.
Unlike his predecessor Abdul Sattar's 2007 book, Pakistan's Foreign Policy 1947-2005, which is a concise history, Kasuri's book is a memoir. A politician's memoir becomes a good read when it reveals startling facts to the reader. Or when complicated backroom events are brought to light to give readers a fuller understanding of how history was made or squandered. Sadly, Kasuri doesn't seem to stick his neck out enough.
This isn't a tell-all book. For instance, Kasuri doesn't throw new light on what might have gone wrong during the Agra Summit of July 2001. Although he took charge only in 2002, it is inconceivable that he did not have his version of the truth.
Yet, the Kasuri book must be judged against what...