Did Congress Launch Former ISI Chief Asad Durrani’s Book? Claim Is Misleading!

Congress leaders attended the book's launch event. However, Asad Durrani was not the sole author of the book.

A photograph from 2018, showing former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, former Vice President Hamid Ansari, along with other senior politicians attending a book launch event is being shared on social media.

The claim: The photo is being shared to claim that it shows senior Congress leaders launching a book authored by former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief Asad Durrani.

• This claim was also shared by X user Rishi Bagree, who has previously called out for spreading misinformation, and his post had gathered over 1.3 lakh views at the time of writing this report.

(Archives of more posts sharing this claim can be seen here, here, here, and here.)

But...?: The claim is misleading, as Durrani was not the sole author of the book being launched in the photo.

• The book, titled 'The Spy Chronicles: RAW, ISI and the Illusion of Peace', was also authored by journalist Aditya Sinha and former Secretary of Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) AS Dulat.

How do we know?: Carrying out a reverse image search on the photo led us to a report by DNA India from May 2018, which said that Durrani had missed the launch of his book in India.

• It mentioned that he had co-authored the book, titled The Spy Chronicles, with a former RAW chief.

• We looked up the name of the book to look for more information, and came across the book's details on publisher Harper Collins' website.

• It noted that Durrani was NOT the only author of The Spy Chronicles: RAW, ISI and the Illusion of Peace, but had co-authored it with journalist Aditya Sinha and former RAW Secretary of AS Dulat.

• The publication also shared a post about the book's launch on their X account.

Dr.Farooq Abdulla, Dr.Manmohan Singh and Shri.Hamid Ansari release #TheSpyChronicles by A.S. Dulat,Asad Durrani and Aditya Sinha @autumnshade in the presence of @YashwantSinha,@KapilSibal,Mr.Shiv Shankar Menon,Mr K.M Singh and @BDUTT. pic.twitter.com/IuitAl7X3x

— HarperCollins (@HarperCollinsIN) May 23, 2018

• As seen in DNA's report, Durrani was unable to make it to the book's launch event as he was denied a visa.

• In a pre-recorded message played at the event, Durrani thanked India's "deep state" for denying him the visa and saving him "from the wrath of our hawks," The Times of India said in an article.

• The Quint had debunked the same claim back in 2019, when it first went viral.

Conclusion: A misleading claim about the Congress party launching a book written by former ISI chief Asad Durrani has resurfaced on social media.

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