New Delhi: One of the most notorious intelligence services in the world, Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence was started in 1948, just a year after the country gained independence from India.
The power of ISI is so much that it is sometimes referred to as a state within a state.
It was founded by a British army officer, Maj Gen R Cawthome, then Deputy Chief of Staff in Pakistan Army.
Field Marshal Ayub Khan, the president of Pakistan in the 1950s, expanded the role of ISI in safeguarding Pakistan's interests, monitoring opposition politicians, and sustaining military rule in Pakistan.
The ISI is the largest of the three intelligence services of Pakistan, the others being the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and Military Intelligence (MI).