'Pakistan more dangerous than North Korea: Former US Senator

Former Senator Larry Pressler has said he cannot believe Pakistan did not know about Osama bin Laden hiding there and multiple power centers within the country is a massive problem for the United States.

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New Delhi: A former US Senator has said that Pakistan should be considered more dangerous than a nuclear-armed North Korea even as Washington-Islamabad relations have thawed in recent weeks.

Former Senator Larry Pressler in a recent interview said that he is convinced that Pakistan's intentions are questionable and that the dangers the country poses should not be ignored. "In content that Pakistan is more dangerous," he said when asked to compare the country with North Korea. "I believe that somehow some of the tactical nuclear weapons that Pakistan has could haemorrhage out. But in any event, Pakistan's behaviour in lying to the United States at least and their harbouring of Osama bin Laden - that they denied knowing he was in their country - things like that convinced me they should be declared a terrorist state."

It is not the first time that Pressler has warned against Pakistan. 

As chairman of Senate Arms Control Subcommittee, Pressler advocated the now-famous Pressler Amendment, enforced in 1990. Aid and military sales to Pakistan were blocked, including a consignment of F-16 fighter aircraft, changing forever the tenor of the US relationships with Pakistan and India.

The Republican also feels that it is difficult to control Pakistan because of the power centers in the country. "I think what North Korea needs is just a lot of attention and hand-holding. Pakistan is a different thing because you don't really have one person in charge. I think Pakistan is more dangerous to the US."

While US President Donald Trump has openly taken on North Korea for conducting missile tests, the US administration has also recently stepped up pressure on Pakistan to clamp down on terrorism emanating from its soil. US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has been vocal about combating terrorism within Pakistan and recently received a rather frosty welcome during a visit to the country. A day later, he reached India and reaffirmed the need for Washington and New Delhi to work together against global terrorism.

(With agency inputs)