"I can't give Kashmir to you. You cannot give Kashmir to me. But what is the harm in talking about it".
This, in a nutshell, was what former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had to say to his Indian counterpart I K Gujral when both leaders met in Male during their tenure.
Narrating this interesting anecdote, Gujral said this in itself sums up the Indo-Pak relationship through the years.
Speaking at the release of a book by Arshad Sami Khan, former
Pakistan armyman and civil servant, the former Indian Prime Minister said, "Pakistan is today at the cross roads of history and every Indian is waiting with bated breath to see what happens".
The book, Three Presidents and an aide: Life, Power and Politics, traces the history of Pakistan through the three leaders and the consequences of the rise and fall of each dictatorship.
Khan has the distinction of serving Pakistani leaders Yahya Khan, Ayub Khan and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.