Making Pakistan safe

United States President Barack Obama, in an interview, has said he seeks a stable Pakistan and wants to ensure that insurgency in neighbouring Afghanistan does not affect Pakistan. Mr Obama seems especially concerned about the safety of Pakistan's nuclear weapons. In recent months, scenarios under which Al Qaeda-backed militants seize the weapons have been put forward by various US-based think tanks, and the issue is said also to have been brought up during briefings to top US officials. Now there has been conjecture that freed Guantanamo Bay prisoners could become involved in terrorist action against the US and could intensify efforts to grab nukes.

Obama has already announced additional troops for Afghanistan. It is obvious that he sees the Pak-Afghan region as a flashpoint that needs to be more effectively managed. For this, as the president has said, a strong, united and stable Pakistan is important.

The question is how such stability can be built. A bill which the US Vice President Joe Biden had helped draft had proposed large-scale development aid for Pakistan rather than only military assistance. That bill has been left on the roadside as dramatic change swept last year across the US.

The stability Barack Obama believes Pakistan needs can come only when the abject poverty and social injustice in which extremist thought is rooted is addressed. Pakistan today needs massive investment in education, health and welfare. As part of his bid to usher in a better world and to build peace in Afghanistan and Pakistan, this is a priority Mr Obama needs to keep at the top of his list. Greater security for people in the country would after all work in everyone's interest, aiding in combating the terrorism that threatens people everywhere in the world.