Insights on the ISI

The PCR Project hosted a teleconference event this morning on Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence and its role in Pakistani security and politics. Audio of the discussion is available here. The event connected two experts to a Washington audience at CSIS and more over the phone:

• Brigadier Shaukat Qadir, retired Army brigadier, former vice president and founder of the Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI), and weekly columnist for the Daily Times—where he authored a two part series (Part I, Part II) on restructuring the ISI.
• Dr. Hassan Abbas, Research Fellow at the Belfer Center's Project on Managing the Atom and International Security Program, Harvard University, former government official who served in the administrations of Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto (1995–1996) and President Pervez Musharraf (1999–2000), and author of the blog Watandost (http://watandost.blogspot.com/) on Pakistan-related affairs.

One interesting issue covered was the prospect for establishing real civilian control over the ISI. Prime Minister Gilani will tell you he is in complete control of the agency ("they will do only what I want them to do"). Indeed, under Pakistan's constitution the ISI is legally bound to report to the Prime Minister. However, the speakers pointed out that the choice of Lt General Ahmed Shuja Pasha as the new ISI chief, known to be very close to Army Chief Gen. Kayani, is telling. It puts into question the ability and willingness of the new government to assert more control over the intelligence service.