Islamabad, Oct 11 (IANS): Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani teenager attacked by the Taliban for promoting education for girls in her country, has said she would like to become the prime minister to save the nation.

"I want to become the prime minister of Pakistan," the News International quoted Malala as telling an audience in New York on Thursday.

"I think it's really good because through politics I can save my whole country," she said.

"I can spend much of the budget on education and I can also concentrate on foreign affairs," she added.

Malala, 16, was shot in the head by two gunmen as she sat in a school bus in her Mingora hometown in Pakistan's restive Swat region. The teenager was targeted by the Taliban in an attempt to silence her vocal support for promoting girls' education.

Malala was flown to Britain for medical treatment and now continues to speak out and campaign against the Taliban and its policies, particularly against women.

Malala won the the European Parliament's prestigious Sakharov Prize for human rights on Thursday.