January 14, 2003	Tuesday	Ziqa'ad 10, 1423

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NEW DELHI, Jan 13: India, under considerable pressure from much of the world to mend fences with Pakistan, appeared to distance itself from a worrying hawkish proposal on Monday, declaring that it would not change its doctrine of no-first-use of nuclear weapons.

Defence Minister George Fernandes told reporters that India would stay with its stated stance of no-first-use as it had an adequate strike-back capability in place in the event of a nuclear attack.

“We have a nuclear doctrine and a Nuclear and Strategic Force Command chain in position. So we stand by the no-first-use policy,” Fernandes said when asked to comment on calls by a committee advising the government on its nuclear stance to give up the no-first-use policy.

The India Abroad newspaper had last week quoted India’s National Security Advisory Board, India’s top panel of national security experts, as advising the government to review its no-first-use of nuclear weapons policy in light of the history of the last four years.

In an exclusive report published in the weekly newspaper, owned by rediff.com, the board’s final report was quoted as recommending: “India may consider withdrawing from this commitment as the other nuclear weapons state have not accepted this policy.”

It said the third NSAB submitted its final report, the National Security Review, to National Security Adviser Brajesh Mishra on Dec 20 in New Delhi. Former ambassador to China C. V. Ranganathan, convener of the 15-member board, presented the report that takes a deep look at India’s internal and external security aspects, and recommends short and long-term measures to strengthen India’s security.

The first National Security Advisory Board two years ago had supported the government’s stand that India would never be the first to use nuclear weapons. But the latest report wanted this policy overturned, pointing out that India was the only nuclear weapon state that had committed itself to a no-first-use policy, the newspaper had said.

The United States had at no stage agreed to such policy and Russia abandoned the posture, which had been adopted by the Soviet Union.

Fernandes begins a tour of Russia on Tuesday during which he said officials from both sides would “aim to work to sort out loopholes in the servicing of equipment and supply of weapons spares.”

According to the NSAB, while China has asserted it would not be the first to use nuclear weapons, in recent years there has been some confusion on its stand, specially vis-a-vis Taiwan.

Among its other recommendations, the board was quoted as wanting the government to finalize and publicly declare the setting up of a command and control structure for the country’s nuclear weapons.

It has suggested that New Delhi develop responses to (threats of nuclear attack) to the maximum extent possible.

The NSAB, according to India abroad, said that should the United States ever resume nuclear weapons testing, India should feel relieved from its commitment on not conducting any more tests and conduct further tests.

It also discussed the US Nuclear Posture Review, which had listed nuclear and even non-nuclear countries that can be targeted with small nuclear weapons.

The board warned that India should worry about the possible chaotic situation if Pakistan or China were to follow the US policy of targeting non-nuclear states, the newspaper said.

The newspaper said the NSAB also suggested setting up a department of counter-terrorism within the home ministry to fight terrorism. “As an interim measure, it has suggested the creation of a counter-terrorism task force to spearhead the drive against terrorism and suggest suitable tactics,” the newspaper said.

The 160-page report is the result of many rounds of deliberations among the country’s top security experts over the past year.

“Surprisingly, there were no high-level meetings to deliberate on Kashmir or any serious debate on the implications of 9/11 on India’s security. By and large, the report has few original or bold suggestions and has tended to recycle conventional wisdom and mouth platitudes,” the report said.

The section on the threat to economic security reads more like a report by the Planning Commission than a report by professional national security experts. Little attention has been paid to likely threats to the country’s information infrastructure from adversary states and terrorists, the report said.

On the positive side, according to India Abroad, the NSAB report has produced a fairly extensive study of the different aspects of national security, specially the developments in Pakistan and their implications for India’s security.

It has also incisively highlighted the threats to India’s internal security.

“The NSAB believes the Pakistan army will remain the main power centre, whether or not President Pervez Musharraf stays at the country’s and the army’s helm, and that the army would continue to control the Jihadis,” the paper said.

The US army’s presence in Pakistan would probably continue for a long period since Washington’s intentions lie beyond the immediate anti-terrorism war.

“They have noted that the international community supports Musharraf and is not convinced that he is ‘insincere’ in his fight against terrorism,” according to the newspaper.

The NSAB “strongly recommended” to the government to come out with a long-term policy paper on Pakistan that would look at eliminating its terrorist infrastructure through a mix of political, economic, diplomatic and operational means.

It wanted India to be proactive in tackling Islamabad’s support to terrorists and urged New Delhi to lend political, diplomatic, and moral support to the people of “Pakistan-occupied Kashmir,” including Gilgit and Baltistan.

It said whenever Pakistan raised the issue of Jammu and Kashmir at international forums, India should turn the focus on “Pakistan-occupied Kashmir”.

The report asked the government to set up a “Psy War Task Force” to win the information and psychological war against Pakistan and terrorism. It warned that China and North Korea’s continuing assistance to Pakistan in nuclear, missile, and other military fields would add to India’s threats.

The NSAB report came down heavily on recent developments in Gujarat “which witnessed extensive damage to public life and property and unchecked violence”.