Obama concerned over Pak military, intel links with extremists

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President Barack Obama on Thursday voiced concern over Pakistan's military and intelligence links with extremists, observing the US finds this ‘troubling’.

Obama also said that Pakistan should realize that a peaceful approach towards India would be in ‘everybody's interests’.

Without naming the Haqqani network with whom Pakistan's spy agency ISI is suspected to be having links, Obama described the extremists as ‘unsavoury characters’.

"And there is no doubt that there's some connections the Pakistani military and intelligence services have with certain individuals that we find troubling," he told a White House news conference.

Obama said Pakistan saw its ‘security interest threatened by an independent Afghanistan, in part because they think it will ally itself to India and Pakistan still considers India their mortal enemy’.

"Part of what we want to do is actually get Pakistan to realize that a peaceful approach towards India would be in everybody's interests and would help Pakistan actually develop."