Pak, US intelligence chiefs hold `productive` talks

Intelligence chiefs of the US and Pakistan have held productive talks on ways to work together to fight extremists, a US official has said.

Washington: Intelligence chiefs of the United States and Pakistan have held "productive" talks on ways to work together to fight extremists, a senior US official has said.

Lt Gen Zaheer-ul-Islam, the chief of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency, held "substantive, professional and productive" talks with Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) director David Petraeus during their meeting, the official said.

"The talks provided an opportunity to discuss a number of proposals for how we can enhance our joint efforts against terrorism. Both leaders reaffirmed their commitment to work together to counter the terrorist presence in the region that threatens both US and Pakistani national security," The Dawn quoted the official, as saying.

The US has been looking for ways to cooperate with the ISI, whose relationship with US spies has swung from friendly to hostile in recent years, the paper said.

Pakistani intelligence and the military were humiliated in May last year when US forces secretly penetrated the country and killed the world`s dreaded terrorist Osama bin Laden, who was living in the military garrison town of Abbottabad, the paper said.
Pakistan shut down supply routes into Afghanistan after a deadly US air raid killed 24 Pakistani soldiers along the Afghan border in November last year.

Tensions have since eased, with Pakistan reopening the routes after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton apologised last month for the deaths.

Pakistan recently signed a deal to keep the border open to convoys until the end of 2015, by which time the US plans to withdraw most forces.

ANI

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