By Kavita Mistry 
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John Kiriakou, who has served in the CIA for 15 years, recounted his years leading counterterrorism operations in Pakistan.
Representative Image (File/Reuters)
Former CIA officer John Kiriakou, who led counter-terrorism operations in Pakistan, in a big advice to Pakistan said that Islamabad needs to arrive at a policy conclusion that it would gain nothing from a war with India. He further recalled that after the 2001 Parliament attacks, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) believed the two nuclear-armed nations would go to war after these attacks.
“Nothing, literally nothing good will come of an actual war between India and Pakistan because the Pakistanis will lose. I’m not talking about nuclear weapons. I’m talking just about a conventional war. There is no benefit to constantly provoking Indians,” the ex-CIA officer John Kiriakou, said in an exclusive interview with news agency ANI.
‘India Unaware Of Americans Controlling Pakistani Nukes’
In yet another shocking revelation, Kiriakou said when he was stationed in Pakistan in 2002, he was told unofficially that the Pentagon controlled the Pakistani nuclear arsenal.
Responding to the query that if this information was shared with India, Kiriakou said, “I doubt that the Americans ever told India that the control of Pakistani nukes also lies with the US because of the vociferousness with which the Pakistanis have publicly maintained that they control their own nuclear weapons. But I can tell you definitively that the State Department was telling both sides—if you’re gonna fight, fight. Keep it short and keep it non-nuclear. If nuclear weapons are introduced, the whole world is going to change. And so I think there was restraint on both sides,” Kiriakou said.
#WATCH | On the question of fear of nuclear weapons falling into terrorists’ hands in Pakistan, ex-CIA Officer, John Kiriakou says, “When I was stationed in Pakistan in 2002, I was told unofficially that the Pentagon controlled the Pakistani nuclear arsenal, and that Parvez… pic.twitter.com/iaKPpixhMZ— ANI (@ANI) October 24, 2025
New Delhi also warned Islamabad that it will not tolerate its nuclear blackmail.
October 25, 2025, 11:27 IST
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