India’s irresponsible attitude could lead to nuclear escalation in South Asia

ISLAMABAD: India’s irresponsible attitude could lead to nuclear escalation in the already fraught security environment in South Asia. Expressing grave concern over Indian missile landing in Pakistani territory they have warned that the world capitals should take cognizes of Indian irresponsible conduct. These views were expressed at a seminar “Strategic Get-to-Know” hosted by Center for International Strategic Studies (CISS) Islamabad, on Tuesday.

The event was participated by research teams of CISS Sindh and Islamabad, Strategic Vision Institute, Balochistan Think Tank Network (BTTN). Executive Director CISS Islamabad Ambassador Ali Sarwar Naqvi, while opening the seminar, noted that stability and peace in South Asia remains a core strategic interest of Pakistan. Speaking about incident of India’s accidental launch of missile on 9 March 2022, Dr Naeem Salik, a nuclear expert, argued that it has raised the dangers of nuclear escalation in South Asia. He highlighted that the incident has exposed the credibility of Brahmos missile and urged the international community to investigate India’s fabricated story of this incident. Dr Zafar Khan, Executive Director BTTN, remarked that it is unprecedented that a nuclear state has fired a nuclear-capable missile onto the territory of another nuclear weapon state, claiming it an accident. Only Pakistan’s pragmatism served the region from a disaster. Nuclear power should not seek space for war under nuclear overhang. Dr Asma Shakir Khawaja, an academic, argued that the 9 March incident reflects a profound level of incompetence in handling of sensitive weapons among Indian forces. This incapacity to handle advanced weapons systems, along with multiple cases of nuclear thefts in India, constitute to irresponsible behavior that endangers regional as well as global security. She further questioned India’s commitment to existing confidence building measures with Pakistan, as it chose not to timely share the details of accidental launch that could lead to escalation of crisis to nuclear level. Other speakers emphasized that the missile incident speaks of India’s irresponsible nuclear behavior. While some countries continue to praise India’s nuclear programme and its command-and-control system, the 9 March incident has busted this myth, they maintained. Warning of the indications that nuclear thinking in India was in the hands of extremist elements, the speakers cautioned against ignoring the possibility of India’s nuclear weapons falling into the hands of rogue elements. This fear, they asserted, has been compounded in the aftermath of RSS driven aggressive strategic mindset. They observed that Pakistan was a reluctant entrant in nuclear weapons club and only developed these weapons to address the existential threat from its Eastern neighbour.

Pakistan’s nuclear deterrent capability, they said, was guarantor of its national security and preservation of freedom. Pakistan’s nuclear capability is purely defensive, seeks full spectrum deterrence and is based on the principle of credible minimum deterrence, the discussants said adding that. India has, meanwhile, continued to explore space for limited war under the nuclear overhang through offensive military strategies like the Cold Start Doctrine and proactive operations strategy. In this hostile strategic environment, they said, the onus of responsibility to maintain strategic stability lies on Pakistan and it remains committed to achieve this objective.