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Bush has a ‘Musharraf policy’, no Pakistan policy: Senator Biden

WASHINGTON: Pakistan is the most dangerous country in the world and the Bush administration has a “Musharraf policy” instead of a policy for Pakistan, Senator Joseph Biden, chairman of the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, has said.

“The fact of the matter is, Pakistan is the most dangerous, potentially ... the most dangerous country in the world. A significant minority of jihadists with nuclear weapons. We have no Pakistan policy, we have a Musharraf policy,” Biden said at a debate sponsored by ABC News at the Drake University in Iowa. “That’s a bad policy. The policy should be based upon a long-term relationship with Pakistan and stability,” said Biden, who is also seeking Democratic Party nomination for the 2008 presidential elections.

He stressed on the need to conduct free and fair elections in Pakistan to prevent the moderates, who are in “overwhelming majority”, from going underground. “We should be encouraging free elections. There is an overwhelming majority of moderates in that country. They should have their day. Otherwise, they are going to go underground,” the US senator said. During the debate, former Democratic vice presidential candidate John Edwards said President Gen Pervez Musharraf was “not a wonderful leader”. “He provides some stability in Pakistan. And there is a great risk, if he’s overthrown, about a radical government taking over. They have a nuclear weapon. They are in constant tension with India, which also has nuclear weapons, over Kashmir. I mean, it’s a dangerous, volatile situation,” Edwards added. online

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