Thaindian News

New Delhi, June 26 (IANS) Pakistan continues to be an “international migraine” with a host of problems like extremism, non-proliferation, poverty and a weak government, former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright says, adding that India can help resolve the migraine.

Delivering a lecture here Monday night on “2012: A year of Political Change,” Albright, who served under president Bill Clinton, took note of improving business ties between India and Pakistan and said in a lighter vein that India can resolve the “migraine.”

Albright enumerated problems of ethnic conflicts, India-Pakistan relations, the situation in Afghanistan and tensions over the South China Sea as some of the problems that the world is confronting in the 21st century.

Noting that the US’ ties with Pakistan continue to be difficult, Albright said that people continued to worry about nuclear weapons of Pakistan and their safety.

“Pakistan needs to learn how to deal with extremism and the issue of nuclear non-proliferation. The US is in a difficult situation to resolve this. It is central to many problems,” she said.

As for US-China ties, Albright said Washington viewed Beijing as “a friend and a potential enemy”, but is trying to look for areas of synergy with the rising power,

“We (the US) are friends and potential enemies,” Abright said while referring to the challenges thrown by a rising China.

“We are always looking for areas of synergy. We keep looking for commonalities to make things work out,” she said. She was alluding to the blow-hot, blow-cold relations between the US and China amid speculation that the US was crafting a China containment strategy in the Asia-Pacific.

“China is a rising power. We have a multi-faceted view of China,” said Albright, the first US woman secretary of state.