| US Defence Secretary Robert Gates urged Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency to cut contacts with extremists in Afghanistan who were "an existential threat" to Pakistan. The ISI has had links with extremists "for a long time, as a hedge against what might happen in Afghanistan if we were to walk away," Gates said on "Fox News Sunday". "What we need to do is try and help the Pakistanis understand these groups are now an existential threat to them and we will be there as a steadfast ally for Pakistan," Gates said. "They can count on us and they don't need that hedge." |