Obama will want ISI under civilian control: Kerry in Delhi

With barely a month left for US President-elect Barack Obama to officially enter White House, influential Democrat Senator and likely next head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee John Kerry today made it clear that the Obama Administration will ask the Pakistan government to bring the ISI firmly under civilian control.

When it was pointed out that Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari had to roll back an earlier decision to place the ISI under the Interior Minister, Kerry said this was a “young government” but was well intentioned and would make the change in the days ahead. The issue is being linked with the aid package being worked out for Pakistan.

Kerry, who hopes to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee tomorrow, will be briefing Obama once he returns from his trip that includes a stopover in Islamabad where he will hold talks with Zardari.

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