Imagine this incredible scene: spy masters from Pakistan's ISI and India's RAW sit around a table, poring over details of a recent terrorist attack. They share information, promise to pursue the case, and shake hands before departing. None of the cloak-and-dagger game both agencies love to play. The imagined scene may well become a reality with the two countries deciding to establish a joint mechanism against terrorism.
When Mariana Baabar walked into the office of foreign minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri to speak on the proposed joint mechanism, he had just finished reading Outlook's cover story, Don't Hang Afzal (October 30, 2006), that Arundhati Roy had written a fortnight back. Kasuri remarked, "Powerful stuff. The writer has spent quality time researching this piece." Kasuri switched to talking about the joint mechanism, carefully choosing every word he spoke. For instance, all through this conversation, he preferred the nomenclature "experts" for "intelligence agencies". Excerpts from the interview: