CIA chief meets Chidambaram, discusses Obama visit

In an unscheduled halt after his visit to Islamabad, CIA director Leon Panetta stopped over in New Delhi on Friday and met Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram where he briefed the latter about US intelligence agencies’ feedback on the security for Commonwealth Games, sources said.

In an unscheduled halt after his visit to Islamabad, CIA director Leon Panetta stopped over in New Delhi on Friday and met Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram where he briefed the latter about US intelligence agencies’ feedback on the security for Commonwealth Games, sources said.

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“The meeting took place at about 11 am. The US ambassador in India, Timothy J. Roemer, accompanied the CIA chief,” sources said.

Besides inputs on the Games security, Panetta is also reported to have sensitised the home minister of the failed conspiracy to mount a Mumbai 9/11-style attack in Europe. Media reports have said terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Tayyeba and the Haqqani network were colluding with Al Qaeda to carry out the attacks in three European countries in November.

Panetta was on a two-day visit to Pakistan to review US President Barack Obama’s Afghanistan-Pakistan policy with the Pakistani leadership.

Of late, cooperation between the CIA and Indian security establishment has increased. Even small details are being passed over. On September 14, based on CIA information, the Delhi Police nabbed a ISI-trained Pakistani spy from Samalkha. Last month, a fake visa racket bust in north Delhi was based on CIA inputs.

Panetta could not meet National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon who is away attending the United Nations General Assembly meeting.