Pakistan's nuclear plan source of stability in South Asia

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Tariq Fatemi arrives for a working dinner with heads of delegations for the Nuclear Security Summit at the White House in Washington. - Reuters

Pakistan's nuclear programme is no cause for concern and has instead ensured stability in South Asia, Foreign Secretary Aizaz Chaudhry said at a news briefing in Washington ahead of the two-day Nuclear Security Summit that is now under way there.
He said basic purpose of the country's nuclear programme is to prevent war in the region. "It is safe and the world recognises it," he said, adding, that Pakistan had never had a nuclear accident or breach of security. The International Atomic Energy Agency has recorded 2,734 nuclear incidents worldwide, including five in India, but "not a single accident or breach happened in Pakistan, although our programme is 40-year old," he said.
Rejecting as baseless the impression that Pakistan's nuclear installations are not safe, he said Pakistan has worked hard for nuclear safety during the last few years. He added that Pakistan had installed radiation monitors at all sensitive facilities and planned to install more monitors at all 72 exit and entry points in the country.
The secretary said Pakistan is participating in activities that are part of the Nuclear Summit. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was to attend the nuclear summit in Washington but cancelled the visit due to internal situation of the country that emerged after a suicide attack in Lahore. Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Tariq Fatemi is representing Sharif at the summit.
The foreign secretary said it was wrong to describe Pakistan's short-range missiles or small nukes as battlefield or tactical weapons. "The purpose behind the both is to deter aggression," he said. "We want to prevent war, to prevent the space Indians created for war" by building military installations close to the Pakistani border as part of their cold start doctrine, he added.
"Calling them battlefield weapons creates a wrong perception. These are for deterrence, only and only for defence," Aizaz Chaudhry said. "There is no cause of concern." He said India was consistently increasing its nuclear stockpile. Pakistan has a principled stance, "maintaining a credible, minimum deterrence".
Pakistan has short-range and long-range missiles, and the purpose behind both is to deter aggression," he said. "We want to prevent war, to prevent the space Indians created for war" by building military installations close to the Pakistani border as part of their cold start doctrine, he added.
He said Pakistan's preparedness was tied to the threat posed by India and the deterrence varied accordingly.
"All nuclear weapons are centrally controlled by the National Command Authority," said Chaudhry while rejecting media speculations that the present arrangement in Pakistan gave the decision power to a field commander.
Responding to questions regarding arrest of Indian spy, he said the RAW officer entered Pakistan through Iran illegally and Islamabad has apprised the key world powers about the issue.
He said that Pakistan had participated in all preparatory talks for the summit and its participation would reflect in all the documents that would be issued after the summit.
He said that Pakistan had a modest nuclear programme with "full ownership of its people, essentially for its defence and not to threaten anyone".
"India, on the other hand, has an ambitious nuclear programme, and an equally ambitious conventional weapons programme," he added. "We have a modest programme because we feel we have the right to defend ourselves."
He said the perception created in the media that Pakistan had the fastest growing nuclear programme was wrong and pointed that several studies showed that India had a bigger nuclear programme.
news@khaleejtimes.com

• Pakistan