By adbnu564 
Former CIA officer John Kiriakou has said that Pakistan would lose any conventional war with India, stressing that Islamabad must understand there is “no benefit in provoking India.”
Kiriakou, who served in the CIA for 15 years and led counterterrorism operations in Pakistan, shared his views in an interview with ANI. He revealed that after the 2001 Parliament attack, the CIA believed a war between the two nuclear-armed neighbours was imminent.
He said, “Nothing good will come from a war between India and Pakistan because the Pakistanis will lose. I’m not talking about nuclear weapons — I mean a conventional war.”
The ex-officer recalled that in 2002, the US had begun evacuating civilians from Islamabad, fearing escalation during Operation Parakram. Kiriakou also claimed that Pervez Musharraf had handed control of Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal to the US, saying, “Musharraf had turned control over to the Pentagon.”
He added that the CIA was then focused on Al-Qaeda and Afghanistan, and India’s concerns did not receive enough attention.
Kiriakou highlighted India’s strong responses to cross-border terrorism, including the 2016 surgical strikes, 2019 Balakot airstrikes, and Operation Sindoor after the 2025 Pahalgam attack. He said these actions proved India’s decisive stance against terror threats.
Discussing Pakistan’s nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan, Kiriakou claimed the US could have eliminated him but did not — due to Saudi Arabia’s request. “We knew where he lived, but the Saudis asked us to leave him alone,” he said.
Kiriakou, who became a whistleblower in 2007 by exposing the CIA’s interrogation program, spent 23 months in prison but says he feels “no regrets or remorse.”