Pak, U.S. intelligence chiefs hold 'substantive, professional, productive' talks

Washington, Aug.3 (ANI): Intelligence chiefs of the United States and Pakistan have held "productive" talks on ways to work together to fight extremists, a senior U.S. 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 U.S. has been looking for ways to cooperate with the ISI, whose relationship with U.S. 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 U.S. 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 U.S. air raid killed 24 Pakistani soldiers along the Afghan border in November last year.

Tensions have since eased, with Pakistan reopening the routes after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton apologized 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 U.S. plans to withdraw most forces. (ANI)