WASHINGTON, Jan 7: The biggest foreign policy challenge awaiting the incoming Obama administration is not Iraq or Afghanistan but Pakistan, warns US President George W. Bush’s National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley.

“It’s hard to think of more equities that we have at stake at this point in time in war on terror than we have in trying to help Pakistan deal with the terrorism problem that threatens it,” he said. “It threatens Afghanistan, and potentially threatens the relationship between Pakistan and India.”

Mr Hadley said that Pakistan had been the first priority of the Bush administration as well because it believed that the US could not afford to fail in Pakistan.

“If the extremists succeed in destabilising Pakistan, the chaos will threaten peace and progress throughout the region. So stabilising Pakistan must be a first priority for the new administration -- as it has been one of ours,” he said.

In two media interviews and a speech at a Washington think-tank on Wednesday, Mr Hadley strongly appealed for helping Pakistan overcome the political and economic problem it faced because, he warned, failing to do so could have dangerous consequences for all.

“We recognise that Pakistan faces enormous economic, political, and security challenges,” he said. “But we also understand that Pakistan has a better chance of successfully meeting these challenges with a freely elected democratic government.”

Mr Hadley’s speech was a sweeping defence of President Bush’s foreign policy and gave his boss the credit for also restoring democracy to Pakistan. “And today Pakistan has (an elected) government thanks in no small part to President Bush’s skilful diplomacy,” he said.

Although while talking about Pakistan, Mr Hadley remained focussed on the need to combat militants, he did acknowledge that the fight against terrorists could not be won without bringing economic stability to the country.

“We have to recognise that overlaying all of this is an economic challenge that Pakistan feels. They have been hit hard by the problems in the global economy,” he said.

Mr Hadley said that the Bush administration backed Pakistan’s effort for getting an economic relief package from the IMF, which provided “a framework for getting them through this difficult period of time”.

But the United States has an interest in Pakistan’s economic stability, said the Bush adviser, adding that he believed the new administration “will see this clearly” after assuming power.

During the election campaign, President-elect Barack Obama strongly advocated taking military action against alleged terrorist hideouts in Fata, causing widespread concern in Pakistan.

Mr Hadley’s remarks, however, endorse the argument that Mr Obama’s views will change when he takes over as president and he too will seek a close cooperation with Pakistan.

Mr Hadley recalled that Vice-President-elect Joe Biden has already talked about the importance of being a strong friend to Pakistan and providing it necessary assistance. “I think that is an element of this solution, as well,” said Mr Hadley while explaining how he believed Pakistan could be strengthened.

“So I think these are things that the new administration understands and that they will be following through on,” he added.

Mr Hadley said that terrorism posed a serious threat to Pakistan’s existence because the terrorists were now trying to undo the state of Pakistan.

“The Taliban, Al Qaeda and other militants who started out focussed on Afghanistan or Kashmir, but in many ways are increasingly turning their attention on Pakistan, itself, and you’ve seen the level of violence in the settled areas of Pakistan go up,” he noted.

Mr Hadley argued that the increasingly turbulent Fata region posed threats not just to the US mission in Afghanistan, but also to neighbouring India, as evidenced by the recent Mumbai terrorist attacks, as well as to urban areas of Pakistan itself -- and the world beyond.

Asked at the end of his interview to Wall Street Journal if he really believed Pakistan would be the biggest threat confronting the Obama administration, Mr Hadley said: “I think that’s probably right.”

“Even a bigger problem than Afghanistan?” he was asked.

“You can’t really solve Afghanistan without solving Pakistan. And that’s why I think Pakistan is at the centre. Solving Pakistan won’t solve all of Afghanistan. But you won’t get where you need to be in Afghanistan if you haven’t solved that problem of the border areas with Pakistan.”

Mr Hadley said that like the Bush administration, the Obama White House “will also have to focus heavily” on the Pakistan situation.

“Pakistan is an old ally of the United States. It is in our interests to see this democratically elected government succeed, because it is important for Pakistan’s future as a country to be able to stabilise this democracy and build a prosperous economy and a better life for its people,” he said. “So we want that for the people of Pakistan because we care about their future.”

The United States, he said, needed to help the Pakistani people deal with the extremist threat because it’s important for the future of their country.

The new United States government, he said, would also have to deal with the problem in Pakistan’s tribal region “or we will never be able to be successful in Afghanistan”.

The Mumbai attacks, he said, also proved that terrorism complicated the relationship between Pakistan and India. Since both countries were “very strong and good allies” of the United States, Washington wants their relationship to go well.

Mr Hadley noted that although India and Pakistan had fought three wars since independence, neither country wanted to be backed into a situation where hostilities are resumed, and both countries had made it clear that’s something they wanted to avoid.

Asked if he had any specific recommendation for how the next administration should deal with the problem of terrorism in Pakistan, Mr Hadley said both the US and Pakistani governments would have to work together to overcome this problem.

Pakistan, he said, would have to accept its responsibilities because there’s increasing evidence to suggest that terrorism might have originated from its territory.

“They obviously have to take responsibility in two respects. One, they need to get to the bottom of who was responsible for the actual incident in Mumbai,” he said.

“And secondly they need to deal with the problem of Taliban, Al Qaeda and other militant groups, like the Lashkar that are operating within their territory.”

Pakistan, he said, had to take action against these groups – not as a favour to anybody else – but because those elements threaten the stability of Pakistan.

Mr Hadley said he believed the current Pakistani government had been very forthright about that as they understood that those groups threatened Pakistan’s future.

“And secondly, I think Pakistan and India need to find a way to cooperate in getting to the bottom of what happened in Bombay.

‘‘We were obviously prepared to assist that,” he added.