CIA chief Panetta unaware of Indo-Pak peace talks?

WASHINGTON - The Central Intelligence Agency chief Leon Panetta was reportedly unaware of the agreement between India and Pakistan to resume peace talks.

When asked about recent diplomatic exchanges between India and Pakistan, Panetta said: “There have been efforts to try to reach out between Pakistan and India, but as far as I know, they haven’t gotten anywhere,” the Daily Times reports

Panetta’s comment comes after Indian External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna met (former) Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmoud Qureshi on the sidelines of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit in Thimphu.

Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao and Pakistani Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir had also met in Thimphu.

When asked about the outcomes of the talks, Rao had said that both the sides have agreed to resume strategic dialogue.

“This was the beginning. We have begun, or at least, we have resumed a certain process. We met on a few occasions last year and the situation is in a sense stalled. Our effort, our enterprise was to restart the process, inject life into it this time, and that we have been able to achieve,” Rao had said.

When asked what was next on New Delhi’s agenda, Rao said: “We have made a number of suggestions to Pakistan. When we met last year, we suggested various dialogue meetings. So, that is known to all.”

“Obviously, there are many issues in the relationship, and, they concern many departments of the governments of both countries. So, if you are talking about all outstanding issues, obviously, it will involve all the stakeholders,” she added. (ANI)