‘Pakistan Most Dangerous Country I Dealt With’: Ex-US Defence Secy

Mattis also said that Pakistan “views all geopolitics through the prism of its hostility toward India”.

Former US Defence Secretary James Mattis at the Council on Foreign Relations.

(Photo: AP)

Former US Defence Secretary James Mattis has termed Pakistan as “the most dangerous” country he has dealt with during his career. Mattis has made the statement in his newly-released book, Call Sign Chaos: Learning to Lead.

Speaking on Tuesday, 3 September, during an interview at the Council on Foreign Relations, Mattis said that in Pakistan, “radicalisation of society” is coupled with it being the “fastest growing nuclear arsenal”.

In the video above, Mattis can be seen commenting on Pakistan between the 29:17 and 30:09 mark.

“We can’t have the fastest growing nuclear arsenal in the world falling into the hands of the terrorists breeding in their midst. The result would be disastrous,” Mattis said.

On Pakistan’s Leadership and Relations With India

Mattis also criticised Pakistan’s foreign policy saying that the country “views all geopolitics through the prism of its hostility toward India”, adding that Pakistan does not have “leaders who care about their future”.

The former defence secretary reflected upon the US’ relations with Pakistan saying, “We could manage our problems with Pakistan, but our divisions were too deep, and trust too shallow, to resolve them”.

He said Washington needs to focus on “arms control and non-proliferation efforts” when working with Islamabad.

“This is a much worse problem, I think, than anyone's writing about today,” he said.

Mattis is a military veteran and has served as the US’ Defence Secretary between January 2017 and December 2018.

US-Pak Relations Under Trump

The fact that Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan visited the White House in July this year is quite a departure from Trump tweeting about Islamabad’s “lies and deceit" in 2018.

However, in recent months, the White House has decided to aggressively pursue peace talks in Afghanistan and to enlist Islamabad as a key partner in helping launch and sustain negotiations with the Taliban.

Incidentally, the only punitive measure the Trump administration has taken against Pakistan is the suspension of $900 million in security aid in early 2018.