President Obama said Wednesday that he is “gravely concerned” about the stability of the Pakistani government "We need to help Pakistan help Pakistanis," Obama told reporters at a news conference marking his first 100 days in office.
Obama said the Pakistani army was well aware of the risks posed by extremists and militant groups should they obtain nuclear weapons. He described a strong relationship between the U.S. and Pakistani militaries.
"I'm confident that we can make sure that Pakistan's nuclear arsenal is secure," he said.
Obama praised Pakistan's military for taking more seriously threats from extremists within its borders than continuing its focus on India, the nation's longtime rival. "You're starting to see some recognition just in the last few days that the obsession with India as the mortal threat to Pakistan has been misguided, and that their biggest threat right now comes internally," he said.
"We want to continue to encourage Pakistan to move in that direction," he said. "And we will provide them all of the cooperation that we can."
The president's comments came a few hours after top Pentagon and diplomatic officials asked Congress to spend part of a $400 million package on training and equipping the Pakistani army to fight insurgents within its borders.
Speaking at a prime-time news conference on his 100th day in office, Mr. Obama called the government in Pakistan, where army forces are at war with Taliban insurgents who have been advancing on Islamabad, “very fragile.” Pakistan’s leader, President Asif Ali Zardari, is to visit Washington next week, and American officials have been pressing his government to be more aggressive in battling the insurgency.“I am more concerned that the civilian government right now is very fragile and don’t seem to have the capacity to deliver basic services,” like health care and the rule of law, Mr. Obama said. “As a consequence,” he added, “it’s very difficult for them to gain the support and loyalty of their people.”
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1 comment:
Concerned with Pakistan? Who gave money to Pakistan every time the former president of Pakistan visited United States? Billions of dollars were donated by US to Pakistan.And now? concerned? Ha, come on!
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