Pak needs to mend fences with Afghanistan, India for regional stability: NYT

Pakistan needs to do more to improve regional stability, and this should include cracking down on the Afghan Taliban, who have links to the Pakistani military and use the lawless border region to attack Afghanistan, and to work with India to end cross-border skirmishes in Kashmir, an editorial in the New York Times has said.

While welcoming Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's recent visit to the United States, and his meetings with the American leadership, including with President Barack Obama, the editorial further states that Pakistan still remains a dangerous country in the Asian region, where the nuclear weapons program is growing by the day.

It says that President Obama's decision to meet with Prime Minister Sharif, and agree to free up 1.5 billion dollars in aid, besides offering assistance on energy and public works projects, shows his and Washington's confidence in Sharif being committed to building a democratic Pakistan.

"It is in the interest of both countries that Mr. Sharif succeeds," says the NYT editorial, as the Pakistan Prime Minister, at least on paper, appears stronger politically than his predecessor.

"The absence of Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, the army chief of staff, and probably the most powerful man in Pakistan," suggests that Sharif may be making some progress in reasserting civilian control over a government long dominated by the military, the editorial claims.

The paper states that American drone strikes against insurgent targets in the border region remain a source of tension between the two countries, and concerns raised by international non-governmental groups about civilians being killed by drones, should prompt both governments to limit the program.