Kayani opposed Aziz as interlocutor for India: WikiLeaks

From Rezaul H Laskar
Islamabad, May 26 (PTI) President Asif Ali Zardari had
wanted to retain military ruler Pervez Musharraf's close aide
Tariq Aziz as a key Pakistani interlocutor for India but the
move was opposed by army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani,
a US diplomatic cable released by WikiLeaks has said.
During a meeting with then US Ambassador Anne
Patterson on October 2, 2008, Zardari "mused about his desire
to retain former Musharraf National Security Advisor Tariq
Aziz to handle the India account, possibly by appointing him
ambassador to India".
"But Zardari said he had found (army chief) Kayani
resistant to this proposal," Patterson said in a cable, she
sent four days after the meeting. Patterson expressed surprise
at the army chief's stance, noting that "Aziz and Kayani had
always seemed to have gotten along well".
Zardari told the US envoy that Aziz used to be the
"big boss" as the advisor closest to Musharraf but "now Kayani
was on top and reluctant to relinquish that position".
Patterson suggested that then National Security
Advisor Mahmud Ali Durrani would "be an effective player on
the India account".
Aziz had played a key role in secret negotiations with
two Indian National Security Advisors – Brajesh Mishra of the
BJP-led government and the late J N Dixit in the Congress-led
government.
He was closely involved in Musharraf's efforts to
find an out of the box solution to the dragging Kashmir
dispute.