Pakistan Peace Coalition National Council Statement On India's Nuclear Doctrine

BJP government's nuclear doctrine needs to be firmly and purposefully rejected. It is a bellicose program of unending military build up in all conceivable fields ranging from conventional armaments to nuclear weapons through a massive missile development not excluding space based assets - as it puts it. It is calculated to cause a constantly accelerating arms race in Asia by it's aggressive, indeed provocative, language and content.

Indian doctrine talks of a minimal deterrence. But, the conditions it attaches, makes it in fact a maximal program: it has to be "effective", "enduring", "diverse", "flexible" and responsive to changing requirements. Mind you, Indian nuclear forces are to be a triad of land based missiles, aircraft as well as ship- based weapons with supporting facilities in space. It seems to make one pleasing sound: India will not be the first to use the nukes. But, then goes on to talk menacingly of punitive retaliation that will inflict a damage on the aggressor that will be unacceptable to it. How minimal will be India's deterrent is shown by its qualifications: it has to have a level of nuclear capability that should survive a sneak attack; it has to be credible, i.e. it should inspire fear in others; has to be effective; to be underpinned by a will to use all the available strength in the massive retaliation that is actually envisaged.

An un-elected caretaker government is wantonly committing India's people and resources to a course of action that will decrease rather than enhance India's security. It is already controversial in India and seems to be designed to enable the rightwing jingoists parties like BJP, Shiv Sena, VHP to make electoral gains in the forthcoming September-October elections.

Let Islamabad not rush in reaction to propound a Pakistani nuclear doctrine that will be much the same in content as the Indian one except for the provision for first strike right. Let us retain our poise and balance while we ponder over the issues before committing the country's resources to ill thought out courses of action .

We Pakistanis have no reason to rush headlong into a reactive arms race with India, covering all the fields indicated by Indian hawks. Pakistan has long believed in a nuclear weapons free south Asia. We as a people remain committed to that objective. We reject the notion that having been invented and fabricated, nothing can prevent the deployment of nuclear weapons. So were various killer gases. Just as gas warfare has been outlawed and all chemical biological and other mass destruction weapons have been banned by common agreement, so atomic weapons of all kinds can also be abjured.

We appeal to all sane people in India to undo the mischief of their rightist war mongerors and join us in the great enterprise of keeping south Asia free of all mass destruction weapons - as a prelude to outlawing all such weapons from everywhere through concerted efforts of the people everywhere.

It remains necessary that Pakistan desists from all arms races and remains committed to the objective of south Asia becoming wholly free of all nuclear and other mass destruction weapons.

As a preliminary , Pakistan Should honor its promise of signing CTBT and cooperate in bringing into being the FMCT in good faith while all these steps are to be in the spirit and hope of adhering to the NPT.

The double standards of the six earlier nuclear powers is a separate subject to be tackled by all mankind cooperatively and which certainly should certainly not be made an excuse for any state's own nuclearization.

Statement issued by Sarah Siddiqi for the National Council of Pakistan Peace Coalition
Annexe 141-D,PECHS-2,Karachi 75400
Tel-fax:455-7009,455-2170
emails:
b.m.kutty@cyber.net.pk
karamat@piler.khi.sdnp.undp.org
ppc@ahsanu.khi.sdnpk.undp.org

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