Islamabad is not doing enough to fight the al-Qaeda, which is based in Pakistan and not Afghanistan, according to the US Vice President, who said on Tuesday that the government has a long way to go in its fight against terrorism.
Acknowledging that al-Qaeda is in Pakistan and not in
Afghanistan, Joe Biden conceded that the focus of the US now should be in Pakistan.
"Yes, and our focus should be Pakistan and al-Qaeda in Pakistan and Pakistan's nuclear weapons," Biden told the MSNBC in an interview.
He said the surge announced by President Barack Obama is in the service of stabilizing Afghanistan "to allow us to do the job with al-Qaeda and with Pakistan," Biden said, adding Pakistan has a long way to go in its fight against terrorism.
"Are they doing enough? No. But it's amazing, how reality has a way of intruding on people's plans".
"And when they (Taliban) went and took the Swat Valley, all of a sudden the Pakistanis went, whoa! They're 60 clicks from Islamabad," he said.
Biden said the new strategy of the Obama administration announced early this month is to defeat the al-Qaeda and stabilise Pakistan.
"The President has, for the first time, laid out what he thinks is our clear national interest: defeating al-Qaeda and stabilising Pakistan," Biden told the US news channel. He argued this is a fundamental change from the strategy of the previous last eight years.