Pak Sees India As "Existential Threat", Obsessed With It: Ex-US Spy Chief

Pakistan, obsessed with India as a perceived existential threat, has "created terrorist groups to be a tool" against India, a former top American spymaster has said.

Former CIA acting director Michael Morell, in a podcast discussion with Kurt Campbell and Rich Verma yesterday, alleged that Pakistan is one of the most dangerous countries in the world.

Pakistan has "created terrorist groups to be a tool" against India, former CIA director said.

"What they don't realise is that it's impossible to keep those terrorist groups under control. And that eventually comes back to bite you. You know, I believe that Pakistan, at the end of the day, maybe the most dangerous country in the world," Mr Morell said.

Mr Morell also said that who played a key role in the Abbottabad raid that killed Osama bin Laden, the al-Qaeda chief and mastermind behind the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States, in a safe house in Pakistan, said that the population of Pakistan is exploding, and the demographics are awful. 

Former CIA acting director Michael Morell says Pakistan still sees India as an "existential threat".

Referring to his impression about Pakistan when he was the deputy head in the CIA during the Obama administration, Mr Morell said, "The economy is going nowhere. It simply can't provide the jobs that need to be provided for the young people who are entering the labour force. The education system is literally broken. No wonder that many Pakistani parents send their kids to madrasa and one knows what happens to a small percentage of the kids who go there."

Mr Morell further said, "The extremism is growing from a societal perspective. It's growing within the military. So, it is not impossible, not tomorrow, not next week, not next year, but five years from now, 10 years from now that you could have a colour revolution, Arab spring style movement in the streets of Islamabad that ends up with an extremist government there with nuclear weapons. That's what so scary."

According to former CIA acting director, "They still see India as an existential threat. So, they've given an immense amount of power to the military, and much less power to the civilian government. 

Pakistan has spent more money on nuclear weapons than they do in education. And they use terrorism as a tool against the Indians and then in Afghanistan, because they fear Indian influence in Afghanistan."  

On Wednesday, Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed's chief Masood Azhar, who is responsible for carrying out terror attacks in India, was designated as a global terrorist by the United Nations. 

Mr Campbell, the former Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian Affairs and Rich Verma, the former US Ambassador to India, now regularly host ''The Tealeaves'' Podcast of the Asia Group.