John Kiriaku, a former officer of America’s intelligence agency CIA, has revealed that in the year 2002, India and Pakistan had reached the brink of war. This was the time of the Parliament attack and the subsequent Operation Parakram. He told that the situation was so tense that America had immediately evacuated its diplomatic families from Islamabad.
Kiriaku, who was the head of the CIA’s counter-terror operations team in Pakistan after the 9/11 attacks, while talking to news agency ANI, said – “We really thought that there was going to be a war between India and Pakistan. That’s why America The Deputy Foreign Minister of India was constantly traveling between India and Pakistan and trying to broker an agreement.”
He also admitted that at that time America’s focus was entirely on Al-Qaeda and Afghanistan, and that is why issues related to India were given very little priority. Kiriaku said, “We were so engrossed in Al-Qaeda that we did not even pay attention to India twice.”
Pakistan Was spreading terror, no one said anything
John Kiriaku further talking about the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks said, “It was clear to the US intelligence agencies that a Pakistan-run Kashmiri terrorist organization was behind it. It was not Al-Qaeda, these were Pakistan-backed Kashmiri groups and the same turned out to be the truth. Pakistan was spreading terrorism in India, but the world was silent.”
CIA officials at that time had called India’s policy as ‘Strategic Patience’ i.e. ‘Strategic Restraint’. Meaning India remained calm despite provocation. Kiriaku said, “India showed restraint after the Parliament and Mumbai attacks, but now the time has come that India’s restraint should not be considered its weakness.”
If there is a war, Pakistan will lose
Kiriaku said that Pakistan cannot win a conventional war with India. He said, “If there is a real war between India and Pakistan, then Pakistan will have to lose. I am not talking about nuclear weapons, but about conventional army. Pakistan does not have the power like India at all.”
He said that Pakistan should stop provoking India, because it is not going to get any benefit.
Citing examples of India’s recent self-defense actions, such as the 2016 surgical strikes, the 2019 Balakot airstrike, and the May 2025 ‘Operation Sindoor’, he said, “India has time and again shown that it will not tolerate cross-border terrorism or nuclear threats.”
Pakistan’s dual role: two ISIs
Kiriaku also revealed the truth about Pakistan’s intelligence system. “There were two ISIs – one that was trained by Sandhurst and the FBI, and the other was full of guys with long beards who created organizations like Jaish-e-Mohammed,” he said.
Recalling the Lahore Raid of 2002, he said, “We had caught three Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists who had the training manual of Al-Qaeda. This was the evidence which proved for the first time the relationship between the Pakistan government and Al-Qaeda.”
Kiriaku said that despite this, the US did not take any action because the White House had decided that “we needed Pakistan, relations with them were more important than India.”
Who is John Kiriakou?
John Kiriakou worked in the CIA for 15 years. After 9/11, he headed counter-terrorism operations in Pakistan and conducted several operations in cities like Peshawar, Karachi, Lahore, Faisalabad and Quetta. In 2007, he publicly exposed the CIA’s use of torture on prisoners, after which he was jailed for 23 months. Today he says about it, “I have no regrets.”
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