Keep your powder dry

Publisher and Managing Editor IKRAM SEHGAL wrote these articles for THE NATIONwhich we are re-producing with thanks.

At a special ceremony held at Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) on Wednesday January 8, 2002 the indigenously developed 1300 km range Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile (IRBM) Ghauri was formally handed over to the President, Gen Pervez Musharraf accepting the induction into the “Strategic Forces Command” on behalf of the Pakistan Army. With this the teeth-to-tail structure of Pakistan as a nuclear power is now complete, i.e. from development of nuclear weapons and delivery systems to the operational commissioning thereof as an integral part of our defence mechanism under the umbrella of the Nuclear Command Authority (NCA). That our scientists, engineers and workers achieved both uranium enrichment and missile development indigenously should be a matter of great pride and satisfaction to all Pakistanis. This force upgradation in non-conventional weapons will take the pressure off our outnumbered (in comparison numerically to our arch-enemy India) Armed Forces.
Pakistan’s nuclear and missile capability development as a deterrent is a legitimate act of self-defence that we have been engaged since 1974 to counter the first Indian nuclear blast, late PM Zulfikar Ali Bhutto even promising to eat grass if need be to develop this weapon. Very soon after our intentions became known a discriminatory documentary called “the Islamic Bomb” went into circulation, with this the vilification of Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan (AQ) as a possible “Dr Strangelove” first came into the limelight. Thirty years later neither the technology or the expertise developed by Pakistan indigenously has been handed over to anybody as India has been darkly alleging from time to time. Several months ago, some of our scientists were falsely accused of helping Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda develop nuclear expertise, that allegation was also a fabrication in keeping with almost all of India’s canards. Now AQ is again being falsely maligned in the international media in keeping with India’s perception of what the US wants to presently hear. If Pakistan (or AQ personally) had any such intentions, what was stopping us handing over the necessary information to any of the Arab countries confronting Israel? Despite several changes of governments, military and civil, Pakistan has kept its nuclear and missile development under strict singular control but also followed a well-considered and mature policy of using this knowledge and expertise only for self-defence. Simply put, our potential is not for sale and will never be, the intelligence community of the first world has repeatedly found this to be true. And if this was not the case and Pakistan was really engaged officially or unofficially in nuclear proliferation for profit, Pakistan (and not Iraq and possibly North Korea) would have been on the receiving end US and west anger. Not that we are not likely to be in the future if the present India’s malicious propaganda continues and takes effect in western perceptions.
India’s international media war against Pakistan continues unabated. The Indian lobby falsely quoted Gen Pervez Musharraf that in the event of war during the stand-off with India during 2002 he would have used the nuclear option. This was emphatically denied. On the other hand India’s bellicose unguided missile Defence Minister George Fernandes went ballistic in threatening “to wipe out Pakistan” by use of nuclear bombs. Actually Fernandes running off at the mouth was meant to counter the panic in the minds of the Indian public which, after a period of extreme jingoism of “teaching Pakistan a suitable lesson”, was suddenly confronted with the fact that they were vulnerable, even cities as far away such as Kolkatta, could well be a target in case of war. AQ is again being falsely maligned in the international media for allegedly offering North Korea (and others) our nuclear technology. The perpetrators of this canard cannot make up their mind whether (1) AQ offered nuclear expertise “officially” in exchange for missile development information or that (2) AQ was acting “unofficially” on his own for personal aggrandisement. Two years ago when the Bush Administration came to office and China was targeted as the prime strategic opponent, the Peoples Republic had to repeatedly deny giving Pakistan missile technology expertise and missile parts thereof. The Indians had then gone to town against the alleged Pakistani connections to Chinese expertise and equipment. Iraq and North Korea have since replaced China as the prime US enemy, India has simultaneously shifted gear and is blaming Pakistani “unofficial” connections to Baghdad and Pyongyang. Regretfully “the New York Times”, normally a paper of known credibility and maturity, is repeatedly being used as a mouthpiece by Indian intelligence entities intent upon maligning Pakistan as a “rogue” and “terrorist” State. Having had the temerity of giving India a list of 20 terrorists enjoying life in India, Bangladesh is now giving Pakistan good company as a country engaged in “cross border terrorism”.
While doing everything to counter Indian propaganda on all fronts, domestic and international, Pakistan should be well satisfied at having developed its nuclear potential and giving it teeth through our indigenous missile capability. India would be well advised to heed what US State Department envoy Richard Hass recently stated in India, “in the absence of the most basic contacts and the most minimal lines of communication, tension between India and Pakistan constantly risks sparking a broader conflict with potentially cataclysmic consequences for India, for Pakistan, for the region, and, if I might say, for the United States”, and he went on to say, “given the wide repercussions of Indo-Pakistani tensions, it is no wonder that the international community has repeatedly called on the Indian and Pakistani governments to normalize their relationship. It is a responsibility they have to their own people, to their neighbours, and all of humanity.” Richard Hass concluded Pakistan-India tensions are more dangerous than during the scariest period of the Cold War.
When one has an implacable foe like India, led by virulent octogenarian leaders like L K Advani and George Fernandes who excel in posturing aggressively, Pakistan needs to take every reasonable measure to ensure a responsible deterrent. Only a part of our overall defences, Ghauri is a legitimate weapon of peace, it deters war. The present peace is only an extension of India’s aggressive intent towards Pakistan, the airwaves are now being used as a battleground, we must gear up our media machinery to counter the non-stop and misleading Indian propaganda. In the meantime the NCA gives the Pakistan Armed Forces the necessary non-conventional teeth. Given the Indian penchant for adventure in South Asia, our servicemen will be well advised to keep their powder dry.