Not Pak nukes, but their vulnerability a worry'

NEW DELHI: Pakistan might be rapidly bolstering its nuclear arsenal and missiles with China's help but India is not too worried about that since it's confident of its own deterrence capabilities. The real worry is the prospect of jihadis gaining access to Pakistan's nuclear arsenal, enriched uranium or technological know-how to make "dirty bombs".

"We know Pakistan is strengthening its nuclear arsenal. We are also taking care (of our arsenal). We are not unduly worried it because we are capable of meeting any threat," said defence minister A K Antony on Friday.

"Our only worry about Pakistan's nuclear arsenal is that there is always the danger and threat of it going into the hands of militants and terrorists. That is our main worry," he added.

Army chief General V K Singh has also held that India's "major concern" at present, rather than conventional conflicts or wars, was the ongoing "attempts" by "non-state actors" to acquire weapons of mass destruction (WMDs).

This comes in the backdrop of estimates by global nuclear watchdogs and reputed think-tanks, which hold that Pakistan has surged ahead of India in terms of nuclear warheads. On an average, Pakistan is said to have 80 to 100 nuclear warheads, compared to India's 70 to 90.

Moreover, as earlier reported by TOI, Pakistan is fast supplementing its ongoing enriched uranium-based nuke programme with a weapons-grade plutonium one. The two new heavy-water reactors at Pakistan's Khushab nuclear facility are clearly meant to produce weapons-grade plutonium.

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), in its latest report, holds India and Pakistan are fast stockpiling nuclear weapons, with both adding almost 20 to 30 warheads over the last one year.

But then SIPRI went ahead to warn that Pakistan is in danger of "losing control of part of its nuclear arsenal" to terrorists. Fears around the world on this count have increased after last month's well-planned Taliban attack on the PNS Mehran naval airbase at Karachi , which could not have taken place without the help of "insiders".

Infiltration of fundamentalists into the Pakistani armed forces, which have already undergone a high degree of Islamization at the lower ranks, makes the possibility of "diversion" of nuclear supplies to jihadi hands a clear and present danger.

Asked about India's preparedness, Antony said, "Considering the present security scenario and the threat from terrorist outfits, our armed forces will have to be vigilant 24x7. That they are doing, especially after Osma bin Laden's killing. Our forces are closely monitoring everything."