Islamabad, Mar. 20 : A worried Pakistan has decided to raise the issue of a possible extension of the US covert war to Baluchistan with the CIA chief Leon Panetta during his visit to the country.

Panetta would be arriving here on a two day visit on Friday.

"Pakistani authorities will raise this issue with the CIA chief when he arrives here and he will be cautioned that drone attacks on Balochistan could be catastrophic for the country's stability," The Nation quoted a top Pakistani official, as saying.

New Delhi - United States' Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) director Leon Panetta held talks with Indian Home Minister P Chdiambaram Thursday on various issues including terrorism and the situation in neighbouring Pakistan, officials and news reports said.

Panetta is on his first overseas visit since being appointed head of the CIA by US President Barack Obama.

He is scheduled to leave for Pakistan later in the day.

Indian and US diplomatic officials described Panetta's meeting with the home minister as a courtesy call.

Washington  - Leon Panetta pledged that US intelligence assessments will be independent of political influence after he was sworn in Thursday as head of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

Panetta, a former US congressman, said it was crucial that the CIA provide "honest" reviews of the security threats facing the United States, in an implicit swipe at former president George W Bush's handling of intelligence during his eight years in office.