ISI is our first line of defence, stands out as world's best intelligence agency: Imran Khan

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan visited the headquarters of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) on Wednesday and received a detailed briefing on "various strategic, intelligence and national security matters".

Khan was received by the chiefs of the Army and ISI, General Qamar Javed Bajwa and Lt Gen Naveed Mukhtar respectively, reported the Dawn, citing an Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) handout.

The Pakistani government, through federal Minister for Information Fawad Chaudhry, issued a statement about the visit, stating that Bajwa and Mukhtar had given an eight-hour-long briefing to Imran Khan and the cabinet members who accompanied him.

The Prime Minister was briefed about the "internal and external challenges" being faced by the country during his visit, Chaudhry said.

During his visit, Khan, who has been the Prime Minister for less than a month now, offered prayers and laid a wreath at Yadgar-i-Shuhada,



a monument dedicated to the soldiers killed in 1965 and 1971 wars with India.

According to the handout, Khan lauded the spy agency, saying that "ISI is our first line of defence and stands out as best intelligence agency of the world."

Khan, who catapulted to power amidst claims of being propped up by the country's influential military, said that the government and people firmly stood behind the army and the ISI.

Accompanying Imran Khan at the ISI headquarters were Chaudhry, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Defence Minister Pervez Khattak and Minister of State for Interior Shehryar Afridi - almost the same team which had visited the army's General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi days after the formation of the new government.

According to sources, Imran Khan was also briefed on the security environment, threat spectrum and response, counter-terrorism operations, and the situation in Sindh during his visit.