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According to Stephen Hadley, who was the national security adviser for ex- US president George W Bush, the increasing insurgency in Afghanistan could harm the nuclear assets of Pakistan.
"The situation in Pakistan is troubling from a lot of perspectives”, said Stephen Hadley, who is currently the advisor at Washington-based think-tank, US Institute of Peace.
"There is a lot of concern about what happens to Pakistan's nuclear weapons if the government fragments in some way”, said Hadley, who was addressing an international security conference in Halifax.
He said that the apprehension regarding this came into light soon after the September, 2001 terrorist attack. He said that US was worried that Taliban could destabilize Pakistan and form a new government there.
"So far that hasn't happened, and Pakistan's nuclear weapons remain firmly in the control of the established civilian government”, he said.
He said the US has assisted Pakistan since 9/11 in maintaining legitimate command and control efforts over its arsenal.
"Whenever we checked with our military and intelligence people, we said, 'Is this a nuclear arsenal at risk?' The answer so far has always been, 'No,'" Hadley said. "And we have now a democratic government in Pakistan that is really revitalising their effort against the Taliban. They see it now for what it is — a strategic threat to the stability of that democracy," Hadley said.
He said while in the last eight years all stakeholders have done "pretty well" in managing the affairs.
"Yet it remains a risk that circumstances could rapidly change”, he added.
