Pak Going Beyond Nuclear Deterrent: Army Chief

Army chief General Deepak Kapoor has said that if the reports of Pakistan having amassed a large stockpile of nuclear missiles with India specific delivery system are true, it is “going beyond nuclear deterrence”.

“It is a matter of concern for us,” Kapoor said in reaction to an article published in the latest issue of ‘Bulletin of the Atomic Scientist’ that revealed enhanced nuclear arsenal of Pakistan.

“There were certain degrees of deterrence and the figure of 70-90 nuclear warheads directed against a country certainly goes beyond the concept of deterrence,” the army chief said.

US experts Robert S Norris and Hans Kristensen estimate that Pakistan has enhanced its nuke stockpile to an estimated 70-90 warheads from a previous capacity of 60.

“A new nuclear-capable ballistic missile is being readied for deployment, and two nuclear capable cruise missiles are under development. Two new plutonium production reactors and a second chemical separation facility also are under construction,” they wrote.

As for Chinese incursions along the border, Kapoor said that there was no cause for “alarm”.

“The level of incursions was the same as it was last year,” he said adding that Indian troops also carry out patrolling along the border which “could be perceived differently”.

“The basic issue is to resolve the border dispute” Gen Kapoor, who was on a visit to the Artificial Limb Centre of Southern Command here, said noting incursions happened because of that.

Asked about China’s denial of Indian air space violation, the army chief said he had already expressed his views on the issue and now he had “no comments” to offer.