By Arun Kumar, IANS,
Washington : Warning that a nuclear armed Pakistan with a fragile democracy and longstanding rivalry with India could “easily become the epicentre of extremism in the world,” an influential senator has sought intensified US support for its key ally.
“Pakistan is not only the headquarters of Al Qaeda today, but it could easily become the epicentre of extremism in the world,” said John F Kerry, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, in a speech at the Council on Foreign Relations Monday.
“We have enormous strategic interests in the outcome of the struggle in Pakistan,” he said noting, “It is a fragile democracy that is fighting a determined insurgency. It has a full nuclear arsenal and a longstanding, sometimes violent, rivalry with its neighbour India.”
Stressing the importance of intensifying support and improving cooperation with Pakistan, Kerry said: “”What happens in Afghanistan-and this is critical – has an impact on Pakistan.”
Kerry acknowledged “while stabilising Afghanistan in not going to solve all of our problems in Pakistan, instability in Afghanistan only increases the risk of conflagration where the world can least afford it-next door in Pakistan”.
“Given the balance of our strategic interests, it should give serious pause to military and civilian strategists alike that the current balance of our expenditure between Afghanistan, where there is virtually no Al Qaeda, and Pakistan, where there is, tallies 30-to-one,” he said.
“That’s why, regardless of what happens in Afghanistan, and especially if we want to reduce the need for additional boots on the ground over the long haul, it is vitally important that we support and we intensify even our support, and improve our cooperation with Pakistan,” Kerry said.
He said: “So these are the stakes – preventing Afghanistan from becoming a sanctuary for the Al Qaeda and destabilising Pakistan and the region – and the challenge is to establish realistic goals about how to do that.”
Warning that a major US troop pullout could trigger a civil war between the Taliban and the Afghan government, he cautioned against a narrowing of the US mission in Afghanistan.
But Kerry also suggested a plan by the commanding US general in the country is overly ambitious and instead made a case for a middle-ground option – a limited counterinsurgency strategy with the potential for deploying more troops over time.
Kerry just returned from Afghanistan and Pakistan, where he played a key role in persuading Afghan President Hamid Karzai to accept a runoff election after Karzai’s recent election victory was found to be the result of widespread voter fraud.