Indo-US nuclear deal: Options for Pakistan

After the 9/11 attacks, the US decision to launch a military operation against terrorists triggered a paradigm shift in world affairs. The US-led Nato forces may or may not be able to eradicate terrorism in Afghanistan and other countries but are interested in forming new strategic alliances in South Asia, which is in the grip of terrorism, an arms race, drug trafficking, and ethnic and internal fights. The region is in the process of reorientation, in terms of power politics and economic influence, and India has taken a central place in this regard.

As the world’s great maritime highway, with some 50 per cent of the world’s merchant shipping passing through the straits of Malacca, South Asia links the Pacific and the Atlantic worlds through the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal. Apart from this, the huge consumption capacity of the Indian market and growing economic influence of China in the region has also brought India the attention of great powers such as the US, Japan and Australia.

India is also in the quest of seeking new markets to meet its energy requirements and a permanent seat in the UN Security Council. The common interests of the great powers and India have brought them closer, which resulted in India clinching the Indo-US civil-nuclear deal several years ago.

After this accord, India was eligible to buy US nuclear technology, including material and equipment that could be used to enrich uranium or reprocess plutonium. India was also entitled to receive fuel for its nuclear reactors from the US. The deal provides the potential to open up similar deals and agreements in South Asia, a region which is already in the grip of conflicts and nuclear proliferation.

Under the current circumstances, Pakistan has three options. First, it can ignore the Indo-US nuclear deal. Second, it can go for building sophisticated weapons, including missiles, to counter India and seek new strategic alliances. Third, it should only focus on maintaining its existing capabilities, enough to counter any Indian aggression and concentrate on its internal problems and focus on its fragile economy. It might be prudent if our political leaders brought the issue to the court of the masses before taking any decision.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 3^rd, 2014.