Intelligence cooperation: ISI chief holds ‘crucial’ talks at Langley

Lt Gen Rizwan Akhtar also meet senior US officials at Pentagon

ISLAMABAD:

The head of Pakistan’s premier intelligence agency on Wednesday held crucial talks on key intelligence and security matters with his CIA counterpart and other senior US officials.

“Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Director General Lt Gen Rizwan Akhtar visited the CIA headquarters in Langley on Wednesday to meet the agency’s chief John O Brennan,” a security official told The Express Tribune on condition of anonymity.

The ISI chief landed in Washington DC on Sunday on his first official visit abroad since he took over from his predecessor Lt Gen Zaheerul Islam last year.

According to the official, the agenda of the meeting between the two intelligence chiefs included intelligence cooperation between Pakistan and the United States, and the current regional security situation with particular reference to Afghanistan.

He disclosed that Lt Gen Rizwan also visited the Pentagon and held talks with other senior US military officials.

In a statement issued earlier, Pakistan military’s media wing confirmed the ISI chief was in the US, but did not provide details of his itinerary. “The DG ISI proceeded to the US for an official visit. During the visit he will meet his counterparts and discuss issues related to intelligence,” the Inter-Services Public Relations had said.



Meanwhile, sources told The Express Tribune that Lt Gen Akhtar will also visit the headquarters of the US Central Command (Centcom) in Tampa, Florida, before wrapping up his five-day visit on Thursday.

The US has publicly acknowledged that Pakistan’s ongoing operation in its tribal areas has destroyed the infrastructure of terrorist groups which include Afghanistan’s deadliest insurgent outfit, the Haqqani Network.

The lack of action against the Haqqani network had previously been a major stumbling bloc in Pakistan-US ties. Relations have improved considerably in recent months as indicated by the flurry of visits from the two sides recently – Pakistan’s army chief Gen Raheel Sharif visited Washington last year in November.


Published in The Express Tribune, February 26^th, 2015.