Every day we see some new concern in the western media, our media or some apex western meeting. Richard Holbrooke’s recent congressional hearing was quite pithy in this context. One comment from BBC’s anchor is still frozen in my memory, that some people argue that instead of AfPak policy it should be called the PakAf policy. In my humble view the nomenclature doesn’t matter. What matters is how you approach the heart of the problem.  And that is what I am going to discuss here just now.Somehow a fear in the western media seems to have been blown beyond proportions: that of nuclear proliferation. I say blown beyond proportions because even though the fear is very much there it obscures and often overshadows the far bigger fears. At the top of these fears is that of Pakistan’s total meltdown and the army’s transformation into a rogue force.Now why would I say such a thing? Consider this: The terrorists who participated in the September 11 assaults were not equipped with anything beyond box cutters or similar stuff. No nukes no other lethal weapons but a fanatical obsession with crrying out their plans coupled with the skills of combat and flying the planes. Granted that the nuclear arsenal can fall in the hands of the terrorists but remember that the nukes have neither volition nor legs of their own. They cannot walk over to the rogue side. And for such an eventuality it must be submitted here that the Pakistani nukes are well safeguarded with Permissive Action Links and all other procedures. That implies that unless there is capitulation on the part of the army the nukes will be rendered useless for the terrorists. As for the fissile material well can we deny that such possibilities exist in all parts of the world, for instance in the former USSR states or even in India where some of it went missing not in too distant a past.  The issue then is of the army guarding the strategic weapons. We know that the Pakistan Army is a highly disciplined force and that in the current circumstances its presence ensures that the few warheads we have will not fall in the rogue hands.The eventuality of Pakistan’s meltdown however is too serious to ignore. What happens if the central authority ceases to exist and there is no mechanism to pay the five hundred thousand strong army salaries. Thanks to Musharraf’s nine years of blind rule the army and the other forces (including the Air Force and the Navy) are already highly demoralized.   Tell me what will happen if the central authority melts down and the terrorists and the insurgents try to induct them into their ranks. The only source of living known to most of the soldiers is fighting and combat. Will such a large number of trained soldiers not be a threat to global peace then? If you are thinking that the country will melt down and the broken pieces will be absorbed conveniently into the neighbors then you are really mistaken. Degerneracy hardly ever gives way to constructive peace.After having registered this point let me now discuss the matter of the Taliban support within the army. Please mark my words that if you think that there is no sympathy for the Taliban within our military ranks then you are living with delusions nothing else. But there is an absolutely understandable explanation for that. This support and the role of our army in nurturing the Taliban since the movement’s very inception stems from the innate insecurity of our state. Like it or not from the day one Pakistan has lived in the perpetual environment of insecurity born out of the Indian state’s lack of readiness to recognize it as a viable reality. After having fought wars with India the intelligence tsars here came up with the deluded idea of strategic depth. The depth of our country is very shallow. Even the recent Indian army doctrines have projected plans or scenarios where an Indian assaults through stealth cuts the country into two. That is why it was always argued that a virtual depth should be attained through a favorable government in Kabul. Of late this argument has been used by the fundos like Lt Gen (r) Hamid Gul in support of the Taliban. No wonder then that as long as the insecurity is there such argument will exist. Now before I move a bit forward I ask you to choose between two scenarios. A progressive Pakistan with a secular ethos no matter even with the nukes or a decaying Pakistan with loose nukes, rampant fanaticism and at top of everything a loose armed forces? I am sure you will choose the former not the latter. What is to be done then?The right answer to this very difficult equation is quite simple. Taliban are a creation of Pakistan. It is the very army then which should root the menace out. No you didn’t get the point. I don’t mean within the Pakistani boundaries alone. The only strategy that can work is to give the Pakistan army a role in Afghanistan too. Since the Taliban are creation of our army, our soldiers know their mentality too, especially of the Afghan Taliban. So the best way is to employ the same army on both sides of the border to squeeze the Taliban - Al Qaeda nexus. Now this idea seems a non starter. There of course are snags. First, why would the Pakistan Army want to take part there? Second, if it does it lacks the capacity to fight an insurgency. Third, India and other regional players will have objections to the idea for India has its interests in the country.  Let me begin with the last. India’s interest in Afghanistan arise from its ambitions not any insecurities for India is not directly contiguous to Afghanistan. If Pakistan transforms into a secular democracy and stamps out support for extremism it can indeed prove to be an excellent ally of New Delhi. Now why would the Pakistan want such a role in Afghanistan and what good will it do? The presence of the Pakistani soldiers in Afghan perhaps under the ISAF banner will ensure that there is no crossfire across  the Pak Afghan border ensuring that the Afghan territory is not used against Pakistan. This will also dry up oxygen for the likes of Hamid Gul in army for the insecurity constant on our Western borders will be nullified and the Pak Army will not need to resort to exporting its proxies to Afghanistan got the sake of its stability. While in Afghanistan the army will be able to help train the Afghan army in conventional warfare and develop a working relationship even empathy. You know that the Pakistan Afghanistan border has already been nullified. The term AfPak was not invented by yours truly. However it  offers countless opportunities for peace. For instance a commonwealth between Pakistan and Afghanistan which is not dominated by either Islamabad or Kabul. Make no mistakes there are no bigger stakes in Afghanistan  than of Pakistan, and there are no bigger stakes in Pakistan than that of Afghanistan. Time has come to benefit from the strengths of the two nations rather than keep sufferring from their weaknesses. Pakistan thus far has weakened the Afghan nation building process, it can play greater role in its reconstruction.Now the last but the most important bit. If somehow Afghan and Pakistan armies can be brought under one banner they can very effectually be trained in counter insurgency. The US and the West now need to end their own insecurities and help undo the wrongs they themselves have committed. (The author is a Pakistani television anchor, columnist and commentator on security, political and media affairs. He can be reached through his website www.pitafi.com)