Sir, The threat of the potential disintegration of Pakistan should be a frightening prospect not only for the US but for the international community as a whole (“Pakistan’s dress rehearsal should scare US,” Nov 4).

The lack of secure defined borders whether it be the Durand Line bordering Afghanistan or the line of control in Kashmir is one problem. Until the international community faces the challenge of providing Pakistan with defined borders, a task left incomplete by the British in 1947, we can never hope for a stable, secure and democratically based society.

The best way in which to repay the people of Pakistan for the stance they have taken in putting their country on the front line is to give them this stability. Without this you simply apply sticking plaster where much more is required. More so, programmes aimed at supporting democratic processes or other civil society reforms, while valuable, will always prove to be ultimately temporary and ineffective.

The longstanding issue of Kashmir remains taboo in international politics and, while I welcome Mr Obama’s interest, I suspect that he will ultimately be silenced on this also, leaving Pakistan and the region on a downward spiral that ultimately serves no one’s purposes other than those who seek to destabilise Pakistan and the region.

The US has this stark choice: to carry on ignoring the Kashmir issue and bomb in Pakistan’s territory or stop the incursions and listen to what other Nato members are saying, repeatedly and in ever-increasing volume.

Sajjad Karim, MEP

Chairman, European Parliament friends of Pakistan Group, Brussels

Explore Letters

• Feedback