The US must address Pakistan’s concerns about a possible troop surge in Afghanistan and ensure that its new Afghan policy does not disturb the regional balance in South Asia, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani said on Friday.

Gilani made the remarks during a meeting with CIA chief Leon Panetta, who arrived here for talks.

“The US policy towards Afghanistan must take into account Pakistan’s concerns relating to the possible surge of US and ISAF forces in Afghanistan, which may entail negative implications for the situation in Balochistan,” Gilani said. He also “stressed that the new Afghan policy of the US government should not disturb the regional balance in South Asia”.

Panetta, who also met ISI chief Ahmed Shuja Pasha, told Gilani that the US is “fully conscious of Pakistan’s pivotal role in the war against terrorism and in the restoration of stability in Afghanistan”.

Targeting a top al-Qaeda commander, a US drone on Friday fired missiles at a hideout in North Waziristan killing eight militants.

The drone fired missiles in a village near Mir Ali, a key town in North Waziristan tribal agency killing eight militants, many of whom had escaped a major Army offensive in the South Waziristan.