WHAT Pakistan needs is a swift delivery of aid and its appropriate utilisation. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown's pledge to President Asif Zardari at London on Friday to give 665 million pounds in four years to tackle the underlying causes of extremism, one hopes, would not go the way Mr Bush's promise of setting up reconstruction opportunities zones. At the same time, the government would have to ensure that the aid is put to prompt use like providing textbooks to schools in the Pak-Afghan border areas, supporting 300,000 girls from poor families attending secondary schools and carrying out development works in other socio-economic spheres, for which the UK assistance is meant. It is quite obvious that in the right type of education lies the key to changing the extremist mindset that is posing an existential threat to Pakistan, and any country extending its cooperation in this field would be regarded as its strategic partner. Of course, strategic dialogue, which Pakistan and the UK had decided to hold last May, has other implications and one expects it would be taken to its logical conclusion, signifying strengthened relations between the two countries. In the meantime, Mr Brown's praise of our anti-terrorist campaign should not make us lose sight of the continued danger of militancy that is stalking us at every turn. In this context, Al-Qaeda No 2 Ayman al-Zawahiri's incitement to the people of Pakistan to take up arms against the Americans, who he believes are out to divide the country, and Pakistan army that is lending a helping hand to them, should not be taken lightly. The massacre of 22 khasadars at Torkham the other day for which the TTP has accepted responsibility shows that Baitullah's removal from the scene has not dealt the final blow to the terrorist outfit. The success of the Swat operation is indeed encouraging but that should serve as a stepping-stone for a well considered programme to eliminate the root causes of militancy.