'Some Pak leaders see extremist groups as asset against India'

Lalit K Jha

Washington, Apr 2 (PTI) A top US commander has said
extremists pose the most serious challenge to the "very
existence" of Pakistan, but many of its leaders still believe
that India is the primary threat and some even regard such
groups as a potential strategic asset against New Delhi.

"The Pakistan state face a rising -– indeed, an
existential –- threat from extremists such as al-Qaeda and
other transnational terrorist organisations, which have
developed in safe havens and support bases in ungoverned
spaces in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border regions," US Central
Command (CENTCOM) chief General David Petraeus said Wednesday.

"Nevertheless, many Pakistani leaders remain focused on
India as Pakistan's principal threat, and some may even
continue to regard Islamist extremist groups as a potential
strategic asset against India," he said in a testimony before
Senate Armed Services Committee on Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Meanwhile, al-Qaeda and the Taliban and other insurgent
groups operating from the border region are engaged in an
increasingly violent campaign against Afghan and coalition
forces and the developing Afghan state, he said.

While he did not identify any country, General Petraeus
said: "Some countries in the (CENTCOM) AOR (area of operation)
play a dangerous game of allowing or accepting extremist
networks and terrorist facilitators to operate from or through
their territory, believing that their own people and
governments will be immune from the threat."

General Petraeus said the US would continue to target,
disrupt and pursue the leadership bases and support networks
of al-Qaeda and other transnational extremist groups operating
in the region.

"We will do this aggressively and relentlessly," he said.

Observing that stability in Pakistan is crucial for
security of the US, Petraeus said failure of the Pakistani
state would provide transnational terrorist groups and other
extremist organisations an opportunity to acquire nuclear
weapons and a safe haven to plan and launch attacks.

He said Pakistan is facing its own insurgency from
militants and extremists operating from the country's tribal
areas.