November 07, 2008	Friday	Ziqa'ad 8, 1429

LONDON, Nov 6: Lord Malloch-Brown, British Minister for Africa, Asia and the UN, has warned against any move to destabilise the ‘new democratic government’ of Pakistan and said “were it to fail that would be a great setback to all our objectives in the region”.

He was responding to an intervention by Lord Nazir Ahmed in the House of Lords on Wednesday evening who wanted to know why it was necessary for Nato and the US to bomb inside Pakistan.

Lord Ahmed had held that a destabilised Pakistan would be more dangerous than a destabilised Afghanistan.

He also asked the minister if the government of Pakistan was assisting Nato and the US forces to achieve Britain’s goals in the region.

Assuring Lord Ahmed that Nato was not bombing inside Pakistan, Lord Malloch held the US responsible for the attacks and said it was ‘primarily a matter for the US and Pakistan to resolve’.

“However, I certainly confirm to my noble friend that we all believe that the newly elected democratic government of Pakistan must be allowed to prevail,” he added.

Answering Lord Imbert’s query about availability of proper equipment to British troops fighting in Afghanistan, the minister said the government had just committed some 30 million pounds to upgrade the Snatch vehicles, “although I know that they are controversial to some”.

He said that last week the government had also announced the procurement of nearly 700 new vehicles and the upgrading of 200 more, “because we must have the right equipment for our troops”.

Lord Imbert had asked if Britain had failed to learn the lessons of history in Central Asia “Britain had an obsession with Afghanistan for more than 200 years. We have seen other nations leave Afghanistan with their tails between their legs. If we fail to equip our troops properly to do the job with which we have charged them, we will see another infamous and humiliating retreat from Kabul, such as that which this country suffered in 1842.”