“It remained on the main agenda during the meeting of ISI Chief Lt. Gen. Ahmad Shuja Pasha and Director CIA Leon Panetta.

The meeting at CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia on Monday represented an attempt by both Panetta and the Pakistani spy chief to repair the critical relationship between the two agencies, which had suffered serious strains over the last six months.

Officials indicated the meeting had gone well, though key issues remain unresolved.

Privately, US officials acknowledged that despite renewed goodwill, some Pakistani demands for greater scrutiny and control over CIA activities in Pakistan are unacceptable to the administration of President Barack Obama.

Pakistani sources said last month that as part of a deal which resulted in the freeing of Raymond Davis, a CIA contract bodyguard who had been arrested on murder charges, the CIA agreed to cut back on US spying in Pakistan.

The sources also said the CIA had agreed to give ISI more credit for its counter-terrorism efforts and to keep Pakistani authorities better informed of CIA activities.

Following Monday’s meeting between the spy chiefs, a US official said: “The Pakistanis have asked for more visibility into some things, and that request is being talked about — along with a host of other topics, including ways to further expand the partnership.”