Washington: United States General Joseph Dunford Jr, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, on Tuesday spoke to his Pakistani counterpart General Zubair Mahmood Hayat to discuss the current security environment in the country, the Pentagon said.

This is the highest level of contact between the two armies a day after India bombed and destroyed Jaish-e-Mohammed's (JeM) biggest training camp in Balakot in Pakistan's restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, about 80-km from the Line of Control (LoC) early Tuesday, killing a "very large number" of terrorists, trainers and senior commanders.

The strike was the first by the Indian Air Force (IAF) inside Pakistan after the 1971 war. Ramping up the rhetoric, Pakistan has threatened retaliation.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joseph F Dunford, Jr spoke today with Pakistan Chief of Defence Gen Zubair Mahmood Hayat. The senior leaders discussed the current security environment in Pakistan, Joint Staff Spokesperson Col. Patrick S. Ryder said in a brief statement.

No other details were immediately available. Over the years, despite a deterioration in bilateral ties, Gen Dunford has maintained a working good relationship with both his Pakistani counterpart Gen Hayat and Pak Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa.