WASHINGTON: Chairman US Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen said Thursday Pakistan has a vital role in the strategy being chalked out by new US administration for national security.
While defining America’s national security strategy at a briefing for Washington-based foreign journalists, Mullen expressed his satisfaction on the results of Pakistan Army’s operation in Bajaur tribal agency.
“Some level of stability, no safe havens, reasonable development… nuclear weapons not a significant concern in Pakistan,” said America’s top military official when asked what would constitute success for him in the South Asian region.
The admiral underlined the current situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan as the biggest threat confronting the United States and said that within those two countries, the presence of terrorist elements in Fata was the main cause of concern for Washington.
“And with respect to Al-Qaeda, the biggest concern we have with respect to them is the existence of them in the Fata and Pakistan,” he said.
The United States, he said, wanted to make sure that the safe havens were eliminated and were not recreated in Afghanistan or some other place like Somalia or Yemen.
Admiral Mullen appeared particularly concerned about Afghanistan where he said “the situation… grows increasingly perilous every day”.
The admiral also emphasised the need for developing a regional strategy for defeating terrorism in Afghanistan.
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