Engaging 'rogue' state Pak better bet to prevent proliferation, nuke theft by terrorists: US

Washington, Apr.9 (ANI): The United States' latest nuclear policy review document, dubbed as the Nuclear Posture Review (NPR), highlights that the Obama Administration wants to keep Pakistan on its side in order to prevent extremists from taking over the troubled country's nuke assets and keep an eye on the contentious proliferation issue.

While demands to alienate Pakistan as one of the 'possible' violators of the international proliferation treaty have gained momentum over the past few years, Washington seems to favour keeping Islamabad engaged in its bid to deal with security issues.

Describing nuclear terrorism as the modern world's 'most immediate and extreme danger', the NPR states that Al-Qaeda and its extremist allies are seeking nuclear armaments to wreak havoc across the globe.

"We must assume they would use such weapons if they managed to obtain them. The vulnerability to theft or seizure of vast stocks of such nuclear materials around the world, and the availability of sensitive equipment and technologies in the nuclear black market, create a serious risk that terrorists may acquire what they need to build a nuclear weapon," the 22,000 page document warns.

According to The Dawn, diplomatic observers in Washington said the White House appears to have accepted Pakistan's argument that it's far better to work with Islamabad to deal with these threats rather than isolate it as a rogue state.

However, the NPR makes no such exception for Iran and North Korea, and states that these countries, in pursuit of their nuclear ambitions, have violated non-proliferation obligations nd defied directives of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). (ANI)