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ShareISLAMABAD: The CIA director Leon Panetta today met Pakistan's top civil and military leaders to discuss the war against terror and sharing of information between Washington and Islamabad to boost the campaign against militants operating along the Afghanistan border.
Panetta, whose visit was kept low key apparently due to security concerns, met Inter-Services Intelligence agency chief lt general Ahmed Shuja Pasha and prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.
There was no official word on the meetings though a spokesman for the prime minister's office confirmedthat Panetta had called on Gilani this afternoon. The two sides were expected to discuss the sharing of credible and actionable intelligence, especially in areas along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, TV news channels reported.
Pakistani leaders were expected to bring up allegations about India's involvement in fomenting unrest in parts of Pakistan, the reports said. Panetta is also expected to meet president Asif Ali Zardari and army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani.
The CIA chief's second visit Pakistan since taking office this year comes as US President Barack Obama mulls a key decision to raise the number of troops in Afghanistan. A week earlier the US National Security Adviser James Jones held similar talks in Pakistan.
According to media reports, Panetta and Gilani agreed on "operational functioning between the two armies and intelligence agencies" to eliminate the terror threat.
Obama has reportedly stepped up pressure on the PPP-led government to fight not just militants who attack within Pakistan, but those using its restive northwestern region as a base to launch offensives against the Kabul government and the Nato troops in Afghanistan.
