US expert says Pakistan relationship is like 'salvaging a troubled marriage'
Agencies: Washington, Nov 20 2012, 09:53 IST
the other country is hostile, depriving elected officials of the political incentive to push for a closer rapport. With the relationship on tenterhooks, a single devastating event could well sever it altogether," he said.
At the same time, the case for a relationship with Pakistan beyond 2014, when most US troops will have left Afghanistan, is compelling, he asserted.
"Quite simply, Pakistan is endowed with immense strategic importance, and for reasons having little to do with Afghanistan. Pakistan boasts a large and young population (two thirds of Pakistanis are under 30), and it will soon become the world's fifth most populous country. It also has the world's seventh-largest army and has nearly surpassed Great Britain as the fifth-largest nuclear power," he wrote.
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