New Delhi: Former CIA officer John Kiriakou, who led counterterrorism operations in Pakistan during his 15-year career with the agency, has said that Pakistan stands to gain nothing from provoking or engaging in a conventional war with India. Reflecting on his experiences and the strained ties between Washington and Islamabad, Kiriakou shared insights during an interview about his time in Pakistan and the CIA’s assessment of South Asian security dynamics.
Kiriakou recalled that following the 2001 Parliament attack, the CIA believed a full-scale conflict between the two nuclear-armed neighbours was imminent, prompting the United States to begin evacuating its personnel from Islamabad. “Nothing good will come from a war between India and Pakistan because the Pakistanis will lose. I’m not even talking about nuclear weapons—just a conventional war. There is no benefit in constantly provoking India,” he said.
The former intelligence officer noted that Pakistan must recognize the futility of aggression and focus instead on stability and peace. He also claimed that during his tenure in Islamabad, he was informed that the Pentagon had significant control over Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal, stating that former President Pervez Musharraf had “turned control over to the US.”
Reflecting on the period of Operation Parakram in 2002, Kiriakou said the CIA was then primarily focused on Al Qaeda and Afghanistan, admitting that India’s security concerns were not adequately prioritized at the time.
Commenting on Pakistan’s nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan, Kiriakou revealed that the US had the opportunity to target him but refrained after intervention from Saudi Arabia. “We could have taken him out, but the Saudis requested that we leave him alone as they were working with him,” he said.
Kiriakou, who later became known as a whistleblower for exposing the CIA’s interrogation practices in 2007, spent nearly two years in prison and has since maintained that he has “no regrets, no remorse” for revealing what he called unethical operations.
His remarks once again underscore the perception within US intelligence circles that Pakistan’s persistent hostility toward India offers no strategic advantage and risks destabilizing the region further.
