US fears Pakistan nuclear weapons falling into hands of terrorists

The US today expressed apprehension that the nuclear weapons and technology of Pakistan might fall into the hands of terrorists and thus stressed on having the lines of communications open with Islamabad.

"It's a country with an awful lot of terrorists on that border," Admiral Mike Mullen Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters at a joint Pentagon news conference with defence secretary Robert Gates.

"Things that I fear in the future, it's the proliferation of that technology, and it's the opportunity and the potential that it could fall into the hands of terrorists, many of whom are alive and well and seek that in that region.

And that's of great interest, I think, to our country and certainly to the rest of the world," Mullen said in response to a question.

Gates argued the US strategy against terrorism is succeeding and Pakistan is playing a contributory role to that.

"It is important to remember that they have 1,40,000 troops on that border, that at a minimum are stirring things up. They basically cleared South Waziristan and Swat.

But even their presence and manoeuvring and so on creates uncertainty," he noted.

Gates said that there is some indication that al-Qaeda is worried because of the way the US went after Laden, their suspicion is that the Pakistanis may have been involved in it and are worried that the Pakistanis may betray them, as well.

"Clearly, the lines of communication through Pakistan are critical for our operations in Afghanistan. So I think all of these things are important.

Just in terms of regional stability, there is the reality that Pakistan is a country that has a number of nuclear weapons.

And, again, keeping those lines of communication open, it seems to me, is very important," Gates said in his final news conference at the defence secretary.

Noting that the long history of the US-Pakistani relationship has had its ebbs and flows, the defence secretary said: "They have regarded over the decades that we have abandoned them on at least four occasions, two wars with India, when the Soviets left Afghanistan, and then after the enforcement of the Pressler amendment."

"It is a relationship both sides have had to work on.

It is complicated. But we need each other. We need each other more than just in the context of Afghanistan. Pakistan is an important player in terms of regional stability and in terms of Central Asia.

So my view is that this is a relationship where we just need to keep working at it," he said.

"Just as the ebbs have come in surprising ways, I suppose that the things that would cause an uptick are hard to predict right now.

But the key is to keep the lines of communication --literally, between our governments open and to continue communicating with each other as openly and as honestly as we can," he argued.