Pak leaders see terrorists as asset against India: US

“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.