Dangerous political brinkmanship pushing Pak over the edge: Expert

Washington, Mar.15 (ANI): The people of Pakistan have suffered enough instability and uncertainty over the last two years and deserve more maturity and less dangerous brinksmanship from their political leaders, feels an expert on South Asian affairs.

According to Lisa Curtis, Senior Research Fellow, Asian Studies Center, The Heritage Foundation, Pakistan's civilian leaders are falling back into confrontational, zero-sum politics, and that the country is slipping closer toward the cliff, at the bottom of which is a failed state.

"Coming in the wake of a severe economic crunch, an onslaught by Taliban militants in the northwest, and simmering tensions with historical foe India, the political uncertainty is fueling a sense of chaos there and opening the door for Islamist extremists intent on destabilizing the country," she warns.

Claiming that the situation in Pakistan is already fraught with challenges for U.S. policymakers, she says that the current political crisis will add one more layer of uncertainty.

Instability in Pakistan, she adds, has become a major source of international concern, especially since Pakistan is one of a handful of countries that possess nuclear weapons.

Curtis if of the opinion that the current political turmoil will certainly distract the government from dealing with the multiple challenges facing Pakistan, including spreading Talibanization in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP).

he is of the view that Pakistan's Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani understands the perils of political confrontation and is working hard to defuse the crisis, and therefore, he should be encouraged.

"If Nawaz and Zardari continue to proceed on the assumption that politics in Pakistan is a zero-sum game, all Pakistanis will lose," she concludes. (ANI)