America
Pakistan's growing nuclear arsenal, South Asia's biggest concern: NYT
By
By Arun KumarWashington, April 7
Noting that "Pakistan,
with the world's fastest-growing nuclear arsenal, is unquestionably the
biggest concern," in South Asia, a leading US daily wants major powers
to turn their attention towards it after finalising the Iran deal.
Citing
several recent developments, the New York Times said in an editorial
that "These investments reflect the Pakistani Army's continuing
obsession with India as the enemy."
It was, said the influential
US daily, "a rationale that allows the generals to maintain maximum
power over the government and demand maximum national resources."
The
Times cited Pakistan's plans to purchase eight diesel-electric
submarines from China, which could be equipped with nuclear missiles,
and test-firing a ballistic missile that appears capable of carrying a
nuclear warhead to any part of India.
It noted that a senior
adviser, Khalid Ahmed Kidwai, reaffirmed Pakistan's determination to
continue developing short-range tactical nuclear weapons whose only
purpose is use on the battlefield in a war against India.
"Pakistan now has an arsenal of as many as 120 nuclear weapons and is expected to triple that in a decade," The Times said.
"An
increase of that size makes no sense, especially since India's nuclear
arsenal, estimated at about 110 weapons, is growing more slowly."
"Prime
Minister Narendra Modi of India has made it clear that Pakistan can
expect retaliation if Islamic militants carry out a terrorist attack in
India, as happened with the 2008 bombing in Mumbai," it noted.
"India, a vibrant democracy, has focused on becoming a regional economic and political power," Times said
In
contrast, "Pakistan has sunk deeper into chaos, threatened by economic
collapse, the weakening of political institutions and, most of all, a
Taliban insurgency that aims to bring down the state."
"Advanced
military equipment - new submarines, the medium-range Shaheen-III
missile with a reported range of up to 1,700 miles, short-range tactical
nuclear weapons - are of little use in defending against such threats,"
it noted.
"Even more troubling, the Pakistani Army has become
increasingly dependent on the nuclear arsenal because Pakistan cannot
match the size and sophistication of India's conventional forces," it
said.
But "Pakistan is hardly alone in its potential to cause
regional instability. China, which considers Pakistan a close ally and
India a potential threat, is continuing to build up its nuclear arsenal,
now estimated at 250 weapons," it said.
"This is not a situation
that can be ignored by the major powers, however preoccupied they may
be by the long negotiations with Iran," the Times concluded.