Pakistan needs short-range nukes for deterrence against India: govt adviser

Published March 24, 2015
Mr Kidwai rejected concerns over the security of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal, insisting that adequate safeguards are in place to protect what analysts have described as the world's fastest-growing atomic arsenal ─ INP/File
Mr Kidwai rejected concerns over the security of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal, insisting that adequate safeguards are in place to protect what analysts have described as the world's fastest-growing atomic arsenal ─ INP/File

WASHINGTON: Pakistan needs short-range “tactical” nuclear weapons to deter India, a top adviser to its government, retired Lt Gen Khalid Kidwai, said Monday, dismissing concerns it could increase the risk of a nuclear war.

Mr Kidwai also rejected concerns over the security of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal, insisting that adequate safeguards are in place to protect what analysts have described as the world's fastest-growing atomic arsenal.

Pakistan's development of smaller warheads built for use on battlefields, in addition to longer-range weapons, has increased international concerns that they could get into rogue hands because of the pervasive threat of Islamic militants in the country.

Pakistan and its larger neighbour India have fought three wars. They have held on-off peace talks over the years but are involved in a nuclear and missile arms race that shows no sign of abating.

Neither side discloses the size of its arsenal. But a recent report by the Council on Foreign Relations think tank estimated that Pakistan has enough fissile material to produce between 110 and 120 nuclear weapons, and India enough for 90 to 110 weapons.

Read more: Pakistan still ahead of India in arms race

For 15 years, Mr Kidwai led the administration of Pakistan's nuclear and missile weapons program. He now serves as an adviser to the National Command Authority, a committee of the top civilian and military leaders that sets the country's nuclear weapons policy.

He spoke Monday at a conference on nuclear security organised by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington.

On the sidelines of the conference, Rakesh Sood, former Indian special envoy for disarmament and non-proliferation, said it was “extremely destabilising for any country to develop tactical nuclear weapons”, and that India has no plans to.

He contended that Pakistan's nuclear doctrine is “cloaked in ambiguity” which undermines confidence between the two countries.

Mr Kidwai said nuclear deterrence had helped prevent war in South Asia. He said Pakistan's development of tactical weapons ─ in the form of the Nasr missile, which has a range of 60 km ─ was in response to concerns that India's larger military could still wage a conventional war against the country, thinking Pakistan would not risk retaliation with a bigger nuclear weapon.

Peter Lavoy, a former senior US defence official, questioned whether such intermingling of conventional forces and nuclear weapons in a battlefield could increase the risk of nuclear war.

Kidwai replied that having tactical weapons would make war less likely. He said given the strength of the rest of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal, the fear of “mutually assured destruction” of the South Asian rivals would ensure that “sanity prevails".

Read more: Test launch of Shaheen-III ballistic missile successful: ISPR

At the other end of Pakistan's missile inventory is the Shaheen-III missile that it test-fired this month. It has a range of 2,750 kilometres, giving it the capability to reach every part of India — but also potentially to reach into the Middle East, including Israel.

Mr Kidwai said Pakistan wanted a missile of that range because it suspected India was developing strategic bases on its Andaman and Nicobar islands in the Bay of Bengal. He said the nuclear and missile program was “India-specific” and not aimed at other countries.

Opinion

Editorial

Judiciary’s SOS
Updated 28 Mar, 2024

Judiciary’s SOS

The ball is now in CJP Isa’s court, and he will feel pressure to take action.
Data protection
28 Mar, 2024

Data protection

WHAT do we want? Data protection laws. When do we want them? Immediately. Without delay, if we are to prevent ...
Selling humans
28 Mar, 2024

Selling humans

HUMAN traders feed off economic distress; they peddle promises of a better life to the impoverished who, mired in...
New terror wave
Updated 27 Mar, 2024

New terror wave

The time has come for decisive government action against militancy.
Development costs
27 Mar, 2024

Development costs

A HEFTY escalation of 30pc in the cost of ongoing federal development schemes is one of the many decisions where the...
Aitchison controversy
Updated 27 Mar, 2024

Aitchison controversy

It is hoped that higher authorities realise that politics and nepotism have no place in schools.