Concerned Australia to send National Security Adviser to ‘enormous problem’ Pakistan

MELBOURNE - Concerned over the depleting security scenario in Pakistan, Australia is sending its National Security Adviser Duncan Lewis to the deeply troubled country in the coming days.

Asked for his thoughts on the Afghan war that has spread into Pakistan, Lewis said:It makes me very worried. I am very worried about where and how we are progressing with the Afghan issue, it’s too early at this stage to say what kind of impact the current strategy is having.”

“I’ll be visiting Pakistan very, very shortly,” he told students during a lecture at the University of Canberra.

Following a surge of some 30,000 US troops ordered by President Barack Obama last year, there is now a major offensive underway in the Helmand province, The Age reports.

It was revealed on Saturday the offensive is the start of a plan that will see allied forces attack the Taliban stronghold of Kandahar later this year.

Lewis went on to suggest the aims of the US and NATO in the Afghan campaign, which has now been running for more than eight years, possibly needed to be reconsidered.

“I guess our aspirations need to be properly calibrated. Certainly many considered Afghanistan to be a place where you could achieve a lot more than perhaps we will be able to,” he said.

Lewis described Pakistan as “all together a more enormous problem in terms of its potential impact. There are issues around the security of the state of Pakistan.” (ANI)