PAKISTAN’S nuclear weapons were well protected through the dispersal of various components and chances that terrorists would get their hands on one were remote, an Indian official said Thursday, reported Indian media. Pakistan has not maintained its atomic assets at one place and components of nuclear weapons in that country are dispersed, making it impossible for terrorists to obtain the arsenal, according to Joint Secretary SK Gupta, who is currently in the National Security Council (NSC) of India. Gupta was speaking on “Pakistan’s Nuclear program” - a lecture organized by the Indian Pugwash Society at the Institute of Defence and Strategic Analyses in New Delhi. “Pakistan’s nuclear weapons are so well protected. It is not easy for a person to enter (nuclear complexes)”, Gupta said. “They are being watched, they are under surveillance every time”, he added.
 |
| Pakistani soldiers stand near a nuclear-capable ballistic missile Hatf 5 (Gauri) at an undisclosed location November 16, 2006. Pakistan successfully test-fired an intermediate range, nuclear-capable Hatf 5 (Ghauri) ballistic missile on Thursday, the military said. EDITORIAL USE ONLY REUTERS/Inter Servicess Public Relations (ISPR)/Handout (PAKISTAN) |
The official said Pakistan’s nuclear programme was essentially under the army of that country and “the Pakistan Army is well trained and they cannot take chances. They have a well-planned structure created for managing nuclear assets”, he said. “The total number of structure groups is eight. Their roles are established, their locations are established”, he added. Asked if keeping the components of nuclear weapons at a distance from each other would be a disadvantage in case of an emergency, Gupta said Pakistan had proven through drills its ability to assemble and deploy the arsenal in just three hours. “It is a matter of time for Pakistan to assemble nuclear devices, missiles at a short notice of time. Earlier they would take six hours but now they take only three hours from storage to deployment”, he said.
No comments:
Post a Comment