The New York Times described nuclear-armed Pakistan as "unquestionably the biggest concern" to stability in South Asia, and asked the world powers that worked on the Iran deal should now turn their attention to the "troubled region with growing nuclear risks of its own".
The New York Times editorial said,"The world's attention has rightly been riveted on negotiations aimed at curbing Iran's nuclear programme. If and when that deal is made final, America and the other major powers that worked on it - China, Russia, Britain, France and Germany - should turn their attention to South Asia, a troubled region with growing nuclear risks of its own," The New York Times said in an editorial.
Calling Pakistan as "unquestionably the biggest concern" in the region, the editorial said continuous investments by the country in military arsenal capable of carrying nuclear warheads "reflect the Pakistani Army's continuing obsession with India as the enemy, a rationale that allows the generals to maintain maximum power over the government and demand maximum national resources.
"At the same time, Pakistan has sunk deeper into chaos, threatened by economic collapse, the weakening of political institutions and, most of all, a Taliban insurgency that aims to bring down the state," it said.
On India's part, which has a nuclear arsenal of 110 weapons compared to Pakistan's 120, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made it clear that Islamabad can expect retaliation if Islamic militants carry out a terrorist attack in India, as happened with the 2008 attack in Mumbai, the editorial said.
The two countries have a "troubled history" and deep animosities persist, it said adding that since the last major conflict in 1999, India has focused on becoming a regional economic and political power.