Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump has said that the US needs to stay in Afghanistan because its immediate neighbour Pakistan has nuclear weapons which have to be protected. \"I think you have to stay in Afghanistan for a while, because of the fact that you are right next to Pakistan, which has nuclear weapons and we have to protect that. Nuclear weapons change the game,\" he said.
Trump had earlier called Pakistan the most dangerous country in the world. In an interview, he had indicated that Pakistan needs to be denuclearised. \"You have to get India involved. India\'s the check to Pakistan,\" he said in a radio address when asked what he would do if Pakistan \"the most dangerous country in the world other than Iran\" became unstable.
\"They (India) have their own nukes and have a very powerful army. They seem to be the real check. I think we have to deal very closely with India to deal with it (Pakistan),\" Trump had said.
\"Pakistan\'s nuclear stockpile continues to grow. We are concerned that this growth, as well as the evolving doctrine associated with tactical nuclear weapons, increases the risk of an incident or accident,\" Lt Gen Vincent Stewart, director of Defence Intelligence Agency had told lawmakers during a Congressional hearing.
\"Islamabad continues to take steps to improve its nuclear security, and is aware of the threat presented by extremists to its program,\" Stewart said.
Pakistan\'s finance minister Ishaq Dar said that his country will never roll back its nuclear program despite financial hardship and threat of mounting external debt. Ishaq Dar was briefing the Senate, the upper house of parliament, on the country\'s economy.
\"We did not start this (nuclear) program to roll it back. This is a program of our security, and it is a national responsibility to protect it. All political parties of Pakistan share the ownership of our nuclear program,\" he said. \"Even if our debts swell to USD 100 billion or USD 100 trillion, we will not roll back our nuclear program,\" he said.
By Premji
