Nukes are secure

Pakistan Army’s top brass too huddled to draft a minute sheet and expressed its unflinching support to nuclear program

Reason is settling in US-Pakistan relations. The hullabaloo that had crept in after US President Joe Biden’s apparent inadvertent remarks made unofficially that Pakistan’s nuclear program is incoherent and posed a danger has luckily taken a backseat. The rejoinder from the State Department that Washington had confidence in Pakistan’s ability to secure its nuclear arsenal is most welcome, and had addressed the seriousness of the issue in real time. The subsequent demarche served on the US ambassador in Islamabad, and the outrage among masses, had upped the ante at a time when bilateral relations were passing a litmus test in the wake of the cipher bogey that had literally strained the trust equation between the two countries. And now the firm words from the Biden administration that it values long-standing cooperation with Pakistan, and will continue to remain deeply engaged was indeed reassuring.

Pakistan Army’s top brass too huddled to draft a minute sheet and expressed its unflinching support to the nuclear program by reiterating that it is in safest hands and secure. It is universally agreed that the command and control structure of Pakistan’s nuclear program is foolproof, and professionally manned with a set of international safeguards. Moreover, the unanimity that it enjoys with the civil and military dispensation makes it a national laurel, and the Americans too are well aware of its credentials. Thus, commenting on its coherence or slip-side is unwarranted, and would be seen as an exercise in futility.

Unlike India and many other states, Pakistan has never experienced leakage or theft activity of uranium or potential assets relating to its nuclear program. Nor have there been any accidents or mishaps in the enrichment infrastructure. As a responsible nuclear weapon state, Pakistan has taken all measures necessary to strengthen its security regime, at par with international practices. This is why the 252^nd Corps Commanders’ Conference on Tuesday reposed full confidence in Pakistan’s robust nuclear command and control structure and security arrangements related to the country’s strategic assets.

Amid a shifting global order, Pakistan’s nuclear path is for deterrence and it has no belligerent designs against anyone in specific. This is why it has time and again offered an olive branch to India to resolve all outstanding issues, so that the threat of nuclear conflagration can be lessened. Unfortunately, we haven’t been returned the same favour. Moreover, Pakistan and India under a bilaterally agreed protocol share their nuclear details every year. Thus, any diatribe from the United States or any other power calling in question the nukes’ security is nothing but a figment of imagination to further vested designs.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, October 20^th, 2022.

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