Pakistan is 'one of the most dangerous nations in the world': President Biden

Washington, Oct 15: US President Joe Biden has stated Pakistan is "one of the most dangerous nations in the world" as it has "nuclear weapons without cohesion".

"... And what I think is maybe one of the most dangerous nations in the world: Pakistan. Nuclear weapons without any cohesion," Biden said at a Democratic Party congressional campaign committee reception on Thursday.

It comes amid fears of Pakistan's nuclear weapons falling into the hands of terrorists or jihadi elements.

"Ever since May 1998, when Pakistan first began testing nuclear weapons, claiming its national security demanded it, American presidents have been haunted by the fear that Pakistan's stockpile of nukes would fall into the wrong hands. That fear now includes the possibility that jihadis in Pakistan, freshly inspired by the Taliban victory in Afghanistan, might try to seize power at home," PTI quoted Marvin Kalb, a nonresident senior fellow with the Foreign Policy programme at Brookings, as writing last year.

"And the truth of the matter is - I genuinely believe this - that the world is looking to us. Not a joke. Even our enemies are looking to us to figure out how we figure this out, what we do."

There was a lot at stake, Biden said, emphasising that the US had the capacity to lead the world to a place it had never been before, PTI reported.

"Did any of you ever think you'd have a Russian leader, since the Cuban Missile Crisis, threatening the use of tactical nuclear weapons that would - could only kill three, four thousand people and be limited to make a point?. In a televised speech in September, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he would "certainly use all the means at our disposal to protect Russia and our people."

He added that he was not bluffing. "Did anybody think we'd be in a situation where China is trying to figure out its role relative to Russia and relative to India and relative to Pakistan?" Talking about his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, the US president termed him as a man who knew what he wanted but had an "enormous" array of problems. Earlier this month, the US urged its citizens to reconsider travel to Pakistan, especially its restive provinces, due to terrorism and sectarian violence.