Biggest threat to Pak not India but militants: Obama

[Goodperson]

Biggest threat to Pak not India but militants: Obama

Washington, Nov 1 (PTI) Voicing concern over the stability of the "fledgling" government in Islamabad, Democratic Presidential nominee Barack Obama has said Pakistan needs to be convinced that its "biggest threat" is not India but militants within its own borders.
"Now you've got a fledgling democratic government (in Pakistan). We have to support their efforts to democratise. That means, by the way, not just providing military aid, it means helping them to provide concrete solutions to the poverty and lack of education that exists in Pakistan. So I want to increase non-military aid to Pakistan," he told CNN.

"But we also have to help make the case that the biggest threat to Pakistan right now is not India which has been their historical enemy, it is actually militants within their own borders. And if we can get them to refocus on that, then that is going to be critical to our success not just in stabilising Pakistan but also in finishing the job in Afghanistan." Asked how worried he was about the stability of Pakistani government as it seemed al-Qaeda was going after the new leadership post-Pervez Musharraf, Obama said: "Well, I am concerned about it." "This was one of the problems with our previous strategy where there was a lot of resentment that built up as a consequence of our support of President Musharraf there who had squelched democracy," he said in an interview to CNN's Situation Room.

About Afghanistan, Obama said "we're still going to have expenditures" there "because we need to hunt down (Osama) bin Laden and al-Qaeda and put them finally out of business." During the wide-ranging interview, he spoke both about foreign and domestic policy challenges and priorities but gave the impression that his focus, if elected in the November 4 polls, would be in addressing the economic woes and the mess America finds itself in. PTI

Biggest threat to Pak not India but militants: Obama

 

[su-47]

well, he's right. pakistan is busy with its own problems, but indian civilians are dying, first by the indian mujahideen, now by the hands of th maoists and ULFA.

The sooner we take Manmohan Singh's words to heart, that the maoists are the single greatest threat to our security, the sooner we can react and crush them once and for all.

 

[IceCold]

I think he should be saying this to India as well, because you cant just clap with one hand. Telling Pakistan what their priorties should be, while engaging in nuclear and military relationships with India will not help build this case a bit. If he really is that sincere( which i doubt) he then should play his part as a moderator on various issues between Pakistan and India and help both countires to reach out an agreement. Since that will never happen for obvious reasons, simply putting pressure on Pakistan while giving a free hand to India will only increase Pakistan's concerns and will result in Pakistan distancing it self even further from the US nexus.

 

[kingfisher99]

he hasent been elected yet,has never clearly spelled out his foreign policy as yet.we need to wait and watch.

 

[su-47]

well, he's right. pakistan is busy with its own problems, but indian civilians are dying, first by the indian mujahideen, now by the hands of th maoists and ULFA.

The sooner we take Manmohan Singh's words to heart, that the maoists are the single greatest threat to our security, the sooner we can react and crush them once and for all.

damn, i misread. i thought the topic was "Biggest threat to India is not Pak but militants". My reply would be the same anyway. The biggest threat to both countries is militants, and the sooner we realise it the better.