Dawn.com, Washington :
If elected to the White House, Republican frontrunner Donald Trump would keep US troops in Afghanistan to ‘protect’ Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal.
“I think you have to stay in Afghanistan for a while, because of the fact that you are right next to Pakistan, which has nuclear weapons and we have to protect that,” said Mr Trump while responding to a question during Thursday night’s Republican presidential debate.
Mr Trump is an outsider who blitzkrieged into the 2016 Republican presidential campaign and propelled himself into the first position by capturing the highest number of delegates in early primaries. He is particularly popular among conservative Republicans and in rural America, where 70 per cent white voters live.
“Nuclear weapons change the game,” said the billionaire campaigner while explaining why Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal necessitated continued US military presence in Afghanistan.
Last year, Mr Trump suggested involving India in efforts to denuclearise Pakistan. “You have to get India involved. India’s the check to Pakistan,” he said in a radio address in September.
“They (India) have their own nukes and have a very powerful army. They seem to be the real check… I think we have to deal very closely with India to deal with it (Pakistan),” he added.
Mr Trump’s suggestion to keep US troops in Afghanistan was one of the few serious references to foreign policy issues at the presidential debate.
Most US media outlets described the debate in Detroit, Michigan, as a two-hour long shouting match with no substance.
The prestigious New Yorker magazine ran its report on the debate with the headline: “Donald Trump and an even cruder Republican debate.”
“One clear loser in Thursday’s debate: the Grand Old (Republican) Party,” The Washington Post reported.
If elected to the White House, Republican frontrunner Donald Trump would keep US troops in Afghanistan to ‘protect’ Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal.
“I think you have to stay in Afghanistan for a while, because of the fact that you are right next to Pakistan, which has nuclear weapons and we have to protect that,” said Mr Trump while responding to a question during Thursday night’s Republican presidential debate.
Mr Trump is an outsider who blitzkrieged into the 2016 Republican presidential campaign and propelled himself into the first position by capturing the highest number of delegates in early primaries. He is particularly popular among conservative Republicans and in rural America, where 70 per cent white voters live.
“Nuclear weapons change the game,” said the billionaire campaigner while explaining why Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal necessitated continued US military presence in Afghanistan.
Last year, Mr Trump suggested involving India in efforts to denuclearise Pakistan. “You have to get India involved. India’s the check to Pakistan,” he said in a radio address in September.
“They (India) have their own nukes and have a very powerful army. They seem to be the real check… I think we have to deal very closely with India to deal with it (Pakistan),” he added.
Mr Trump’s suggestion to keep US troops in Afghanistan was one of the few serious references to foreign policy issues at the presidential debate.
Most US media outlets described the debate in Detroit, Michigan, as a two-hour long shouting match with no substance.
The prestigious New Yorker magazine ran its report on the debate with the headline: “Donald Trump and an even cruder Republican debate.”
“One clear loser in Thursday’s debate: the Grand Old (Republican) Party,” The Washington Post reported.
