Hindu extremists get control of Indian nuclear arsenal: Kidwai

ISLAMABAD: Adviser to the National Command Authority Khalid Ahmed Kidwai has warned the world about the threats to South Asia’s strategic stability as the Hindu ‘fundamentalists’ got the control of Indian nuclear arsenals.

While speaking at the 8th workshop on ‘Strategic Stability in South Asia,’ organised by the Centre for International Strategic Studies (CISS) and the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) here on Monday, Khalid Kidwai said, “The custodial controls of India’s large triad of the nuclear arsenals have now fallen firmly in the hands of a fanatic Hindu fundamentalist leadership.”

He said the ‘toxic mix of poisonous ideology and custody of nuclear weapons’ was a new phenomenon that has been posing serious threats to the strategic stability in South Asia. He warned that the situation affected not only the region but also beyond. He said the February 2019 air strike in Balakot and March 2022 missile incidents were examples of the extremists committing aggression against the nuclear-armed neighbour, while being oblivious of the consequences.

Rejecting Indian assertion that the BrahMos missile that crashed in the Pakistani territory on March 9 had been accidentally fired, Kidwai said it was not an accident as the launch could not have been taken place without political clearance at the highest level and the operational and technical planning might span over weeks. Pakistan, on both occasions, displayed restraint and maturity in diffusing the tensions, thereby, preventing any escalation in South Asian, he maintained.

Referring to the so-called AUKUS submarine deal under which the US and UK would proliferate nuclear technology to Australia to build nuclear attack submarines, Kidwai warned against making a similar arrangement with India. “I have no hesitation in stating that minimum Pakistani counter measures would be put in place if a reckless imbalance is induced in South Asia, it is not a warning, it’s a contingency foreseen,” Kidwai said, while recalling that exceptionalism had been repeatedly employed in South Asia in the past disregarding the Pakistani concerns.