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Pakistani Reaction To Indian Nuclear Policy Statement |
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(Source : Government of Pakistan News service)
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ISLAMABAD, Aug 21 (APP): Foreign Ministry spokesman Tariq Altaf has said that, India's nuclear doctrine creates a lot of complications and forces Pakistan to review its options. In an interview with BBC Television he said, the India's statement in which it has said that India can retaliate more with sufficient nuclear weapons enhances the already instable situation in the region.
Tariq said, it poses a fresh threat to the peace and stability of the region. When Pakistan has been doing and thinking of restraint, he added. Commenting on the Indian assertion on 'no first use' he said, 'no first use ' is basically self serving and one is not sure whether India itself believes in that policy because if it was so, they would have taken the Chinese assurances on it the real value and would not have gone into the development of nuclear weapons.
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Pakistan To Operationalise Nukes If India Does
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(Aug. 20 Press Conference, by Pakistan's Foreign Secretary, Shamshad Ahmad)
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        Foreign Secretary Shamshad Ahmad while addressing a Press conference on Thursday, said that the Indian assertion of having capability of manufacturing the neutron bomb and India's nuclear doctrine, recommended by its National Security Board, indicate that India is about to embark on a further and even more dangerous escalation in the nuclear and conventional arms build-up.
        The Foreign Secretary said that proposed Indian doctrine makes it clear that India's nuclear escalation will be accompanied by the further build-up of India's conventional warfare capabilities, This is a matter of deep concern to Pakistan because the vast majority of India's conventional assets is deployed against Pakistan. The growing imbalance in conventional military capabilities will intensify Pakistan's reliance on its nuclear capabilities to deter the use or threat of aggression by India," said the Foreign Secretary.
        He said that despite the best endeavours made by Pakistan for strategic restraint, India is poised to go ahead with the deployment and operationalisation of its nuclear weapons and delivery systems. "It would frustrate the central purpose of the strategic restraint regime proposed by Pakistan to India at the last round of talks under the items on "peace and security," said the Foreign Secretary. He added that if India decides to operationalise its nuclear capability, Pakistan would follow the suit and it will have a domino effect throughout the world.
        The Foreign Secretary informed the news conference that Pakistan has raised the issue of India's nuclear doctrine in the Conference on Disarmament at Geneva on Thursday." This is a serious development not only for Pakistan but also for rest of the world, Pakistan will closely follow the reactions of the major powers to this latest intended escalation," said the Foreign Secretary. Reiterating Pakistan's traditional position on CTBT that it would sign the treaty after sanctions are removed, Foreign Secretary Shamshad Ahmad said that the Indian nuclear doctrine and its other aggressive acts have created a new situation in South Asia which requires Pakistan to keep its options open on the question of signing CTBT until it is sure that there are no threats to its security.
        The Foreign Secretary said that the recommended doctrine confirms India's craving to be recognized as a global power through nuclear and conventional militarisation and aggressive actions. "Pakistan cannot ignore the security implications of India's new doctrine and its ambitious plan of nuclear weapons development including thermonuclear and neutron bombs. The development of our nuclear programme will be determined solely by the requirements of our nuclear deterrence capability which is now an indispensable part of our security doctrine," said the Foreign Secretary.
        He said that Pakistan does not want a nuclear arms race in South Asia and a number of diplomatic initiatives taken by it were aimed at preventing an arms race in the region.
        "After the nuclear tests we offered to India a strategic restraint regime to prevent nuclear arms race and maintain nuclear deterrence at the minimum level," said the Foreign Secretary. Commenting on the element of "no-first-use" in the Indian nuclear doctrine, the Foreign Secretary said that this point has never been accepted as the basis for determining the deterrent postures of any of the nuclear weapons states, "Indeed, India itself places no credibility in no-first-use. If it did, it should have accepted China's assurances of no-first-use and non-use of nuclear weapons against non-nuclear weapon states. This would obviate the need for India's nuclear weapons acquisitions, much less the operational deployment of nuclear weapons," said the Foreign Secretary.
        The Foreign Secretary said that India's "no-first-use" declaration is, in fact, is designed to secure for itself recognition as a nuclear weapon state which would flow from the acceptance of its no-first-use and non-use assurances.
        It is for this purpose that India has offered to ratify the non-use assurance protocol to the treaty establishing the South East Asia nuclear weapons free zone, although this protocol specifically identifies and invites the US, Russia, China, UK and France only secondly, India will seek to justify the acquisition of a large nuclear arsenal by arguing that its nuclear forces should be large enough to sustain and retaliate against a nuclear first strike. On India-Pakistan talks. The Foreign Secretary said that Pakistan is committed to the dialogue process with India but for the dialogue to start Pakistan needs assurances of its serious and substantive nature, and its result-oriented direction "to revert to a meaningful dialogue is not desirable. Instead such an exercise will be counterproductive and a betrayal of the international community's well motivated and sincere desire for peaceful resolution of the Kashmir dispute which today poses the greatest danger to international peace. Kargil has already demonstrated this stark reality, said the Foreign Secretary.
        Responding to a question, the Foreign Secretary said that there were no chances of resumption of Pak-India talks before the general elections in India. He said that bilateralism has failed to produce results in Pak-India talks.
        Shamshad told that US President Bill Clinton has expressed sorrow and grief over the loss of 16 innocent Pakistan navy personnel when their unarmed plane was shot down by Indian forces. American President expressed sorrow in a letter written to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on August 14.
        "This was a message of sympathy and a message to share our sense of sorrow and grief on this cowardly act and act of aggression by India," Shamshad said. The Foreign Secretary said, in the letter, President Clinton appealed for resumption" of negotiations between Pakistan and India.
        "He (Clinton) has also urged the Pakistan and Indian prime ministers that we need to restore vitality to the dialogue process to resolve the issues peacefully," Foreign Secretary said referring to Clinton's letters written to the prime ministers of the two countries. Shamshad termed as reprehensible India's playing politics
with eight Pakistani detainees, saying New Delhi's delay in handing over them, is aimed at taking propaganda advantage.
        "After playing politics with two bodies of the Kargil martyrs, India is now playing politics with eight Pakistani detainees, " the Foreign Secretary said at the briefing. Shamshad said, having made the offer to return them to Pakistan, India is now procrastinating. "On our request that they should be handed over to the ICRC India is now posing obstacles clearly with a view to taking some kind of propaganda advantage out of the issue. This is reprehensible."
        APP adds: Foreign Secretary Shamshad Ahmed categorically rejected allegations of Pakistan's involvement in the fighting in Afghanistan. "These are totally malicious and baseless allegations. These are nothing but a figment of the imagination of those who want conflict in Afghanistan to continue for their own ulterior motives," he told a press conference at the Foreign Office.
        Those who have provided," weapons, ammunition logistic support and military training to the Afghan opposition have wrongly accused Pakistan of providing similar assistance to Taliban."
        He said, in contrast," an entire train load of weapons for the Northern Alliance was confiscated last October which should suffice as proof, if any were needed, to demonstrate from where and to whom massive quantities of weapons were being sent," he said. Our persistent calls for a comprehensive arms embargo against Afghanistan have, therefore, always been ignored, he added.
        He said unfortunately, "self-serving and judgmental pronouncements by the international community have stood in the way of an objective assessment of the Afghanistan issue while outside interference has stoked the conflict," he said.
        He said if any private individual has managed to cross the border and join the ranks of the combatants," the government of Pakistan cannot be held responsible as we do not want to see continued fighting in Afghanistan."
        Pakistan has all along been working for restoration of peace in Afghanistan. "We seek peace in that country through negotiations and dialogue. It is for the Afghan people themselves to decide which and what type of government they want to have. We can only play a facilitating role," he said. Pakistan, he said would continue its efforts to bring the Afghan parties to the negotiating table within the framework of the "six Plus Two Tashkent Declaration."
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