India calls Pakistan 'fragile' state

NEW DELHI: India sounded the alarm on Friday that Pakistan had become a "fragile" state with militant groups nurtured as "an instrument of state policy" uniting in their battle against the government.

Indian Home Minister P. Chidambaram issued the warning at the start of talks with US Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, who is on a four-day trip to India to strengthen anti-terror information-sharing between the countries.

Chidambaram said in a statement that the "global epicentre of terrorism" was in Pakistan where "the vast infrastructure of terrorism in Pakistan has for long flourished as an instrument of state policy".

He continued: "Today, different terrorist groups, operating from the safe havens in Pakistan, are becoming increasingly fused; the society in Pakistan has become increasingly radicalised; its economy has weakened.

"The state structure in Pakistan has become fragile." (AFP)