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Pak nuke arsenal getting bigger, danger signs for India
Akshaya Mishra Jul 9, 2011
Pakistans nuclear arsenal is getting bigger and stronger, and India has reason to worry. The concern is not just that anti-India terror elements will get control over the nuke weapons; [HI]its more about India losing out in the power games involved in the complex geopolitics of the region.[/HI]
That a nuclear-powered yet highly unstable and hostile Pakistan poses a great threat to India needs no overstating; yet, seen in the backdrop of the Beijing-Islamabad nexus. with the North Korean angle thrown in, the frenzied stockpiling of weapons by Pakistan becomes significant.
Pakistan's frenetic stockpiling of nuclear weapons is disquieting, particularly given its record of nuclear proliferation. Reuters
[HI]According to US nuclear experts Hans M Kristensen and Robert Norris Pakistans nuclear stockpile is growing fast and it could build up close to 200 warheads in ten years[/HI]. It is also in the process of building two new plutonium production reactors and a new reprocessing facility to fabricate more nuclear weapon fuel. Kristensen is director of the Nuclear Information Project with the Federation of American Scientists (FAS) in Washington, and Norris is a senior fellow with the FAS.
In a paper, titled Pakistans nuclear forces, 2011′, published in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, they wrote, Despite its political instability, Pakistan continues to steadily expand its nuclear capabilities and competenciesWe estimate that Pakistan has a nuclear weapons stockpile of 90-110 nuclear warheads, an increase from the estimated 70-90 warheads in 2009, the paper said.
[HI]
It is also developing new delivery systems. Enhancements to Pakistans nuclear forces include a new nuclear-capable medium-range ballistic missile, the development of two new nuclear-capable short-range ballistic missiles, and the development of two new nuclear-capable cruise missiles. With four new delivery systems and two plutonium production reactors under development the rate of Pakistans stockpile growth may even increase over the next 10 years, the paper warned.
[/HI]What is Pakistan up to? Its not the first time international observers have raised questions over its desperation to arm itself to the teeth.
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), in a recent report, said Pakistans weapons-grade plutonium production would jump seven-fold with the two new reactors at Khushab nearing completion. It said Pakistan had the capability to produce 100 nuclear weapons at short notice and added that F-16 fighters, Ghaznavi and Shaheen missiles would serve as its delivery systems.
While the SIPRI report blamed India too for being in the nuke arms race, it expresses concern that Pakistan is in danger of losing control of part of its nuclear arsenal to terrorists. But terrorists are just one of the worries in trouble-torn Pakistan.
It has now come to light that two Pakistani military officials sold nuclear technology to North Korea in the 1990s. Pakistan could be a source of nuclear weapon proliferation in the region if its nuclear programmes are not monitored strictly. Rogue elements in the establishment could sell off technology and weapons to smaller countries like North Korea and elements inimical to India.
Pakistans threat perception, imaginary or real, in the region does not extend beyond India. It can, therefore, be safely assumed that its stockpiling of nuclear weapons is intended for possible use against India. If thats not the sole motive, it has to be the lucrative trade in such weapons.
Some recent attacks close to nuclear establishments most of them are located in the restive Waziristan, the stronghold of the Al-Queda and the Pakistan Taliban reveal the extent to which there is an interest among terrorist groups to get hold of weapons.
The international community must take note of the clandestine nuclear activities involving China, Pakistan and North Korea.
Akshaya Mishra Jul 9, 2011
Pakistans nuclear arsenal is getting bigger and stronger, and India has reason to worry. The concern is not just that anti-India terror elements will get control over the nuke weapons; [HI]its more about India losing out in the power games involved in the complex geopolitics of the region.[/HI]
That a nuclear-powered yet highly unstable and hostile Pakistan poses a great threat to India needs no overstating; yet, seen in the backdrop of the Beijing-Islamabad nexus. with the North Korean angle thrown in, the frenzied stockpiling of weapons by Pakistan becomes significant.
Pakistan's frenetic stockpiling of nuclear weapons is disquieting, particularly given its record of nuclear proliferation. Reuters[HI]According to US nuclear experts Hans M Kristensen and Robert Norris Pakistans nuclear stockpile is growing fast and it could build up close to 200 warheads in ten years[/HI]. It is also in the process of building two new plutonium production reactors and a new reprocessing facility to fabricate more nuclear weapon fuel. Kristensen is director of the Nuclear Information Project with the Federation of American Scientists (FAS) in Washington, and Norris is a senior fellow with the FAS.
In a paper, titled Pakistans nuclear forces, 2011′, published in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, they wrote, Despite its political instability, Pakistan continues to steadily expand its nuclear capabilities and competenciesWe estimate that Pakistan has a nuclear weapons stockpile of 90-110 nuclear warheads, an increase from the estimated 70-90 warheads in 2009, the paper said.
[HI]
It is also developing new delivery systems. Enhancements to Pakistans nuclear forces include a new nuclear-capable medium-range ballistic missile, the development of two new nuclear-capable short-range ballistic missiles, and the development of two new nuclear-capable cruise missiles. With four new delivery systems and two plutonium production reactors under development the rate of Pakistans stockpile growth may even increase over the next 10 years, the paper warned.
[/HI]What is Pakistan up to? Its not the first time international observers have raised questions over its desperation to arm itself to the teeth.
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), in a recent report, said Pakistans weapons-grade plutonium production would jump seven-fold with the two new reactors at Khushab nearing completion. It said Pakistan had the capability to produce 100 nuclear weapons at short notice and added that F-16 fighters, Ghaznavi and Shaheen missiles would serve as its delivery systems.
While the SIPRI report blamed India too for being in the nuke arms race, it expresses concern that Pakistan is in danger of losing control of part of its nuclear arsenal to terrorists. But terrorists are just one of the worries in trouble-torn Pakistan.
It has now come to light that two Pakistani military officials sold nuclear technology to North Korea in the 1990s. Pakistan could be a source of nuclear weapon proliferation in the region if its nuclear programmes are not monitored strictly. Rogue elements in the establishment could sell off technology and weapons to smaller countries like North Korea and elements inimical to India.
Pakistans threat perception, imaginary or real, in the region does not extend beyond India. It can, therefore, be safely assumed that its stockpiling of nuclear weapons is intended for possible use against India. If thats not the sole motive, it has to be the lucrative trade in such weapons.
Some recent attacks close to nuclear establishments most of them are located in the restive Waziristan, the stronghold of the Al-Queda and the Pakistan Taliban reveal the extent to which there is an interest among terrorist groups to get hold of weapons.
The international community must take note of the clandestine nuclear activities involving China, Pakistan and North Korea.
