Inter Services Intelligence

The news, since contradicted, about the government placing the Inter Services Intelligence Directorate under the ministry of interior, draws attention to the action taken by the PPP government in 1975 when the ISI was given a political role by the government of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto to assist it in influencing politicians and political parties. Later, in President Ghulam Ishaq Khan's time, this function was increased to distributing money amongst politicians.

The ISI Directorate has been functioning directly under the president, though it was nominally under the prime minister. It had been created earlier in Ayub Khan's time to coordinate the functions of the Intelligence Directorates of the three defence services. This coordination related only to military matters. In fact the Intelligence Directorates of the three defence services functioned largely independently with very little interference or control by the director of the ISI. It had very little to do with Air Force or Naval intelligence before the 1965 war. In fact the performance of the PAF in that war was partly due to the inability of the ISI, whose military functions were controlled largely by the C-in-C of the Pakistan army to influence the PAF's plan of action.