In the given question, a statement of Assertion is followed by a statement of Reason. Mark the correct answer.

Assertion: The military regime in Pakistan has been seen as the protector of Western interests in West Asia and South Asia.

Reason: The military regime prevents the fear of the threat of global Islamic terrorism and the apprehension that Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal might fall into the hands of the terrorist groups.

Both the Assertion and the Reason are correct and the Reason is the correct explanation of the Assertion.

The United States and other Western countries have encouraged the military’s authoritarian rule in the past, for their own reasons. Given their fear of the threat of what they call global Islamic terrorism and the apprehension that Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal might fall into the hands of these terrorist groups, the military regime in Pakistan has been seen as the protector of Western interests in West Asia and South Asia.