Nuclear threat from Pakistan is real as it treats India its major enemy

It may be good that the latest armed conflict between India and Pakistan ended quickly before it could blow up into a full-scale war leading to massive destruction of life and property and economic disaster in both the countries maybe more so in Pakistan than in India.

- BY NANTOO BANERJEE

However, the abrupt end of the conflict, which seriously damaged Pakistan's military infrastructure, seemingly due to Pakistan's possible nuclear threat is a matter of major concern. Of all the nine nuclear armed states, Pakistan is probably the world’s biggest terrorist state that had secretly sheltered the world’s most notorious, violent and wanted terrorist Osama bin Laden in an army cantonment area.

Pakistan's ways are equally unpredictable. Formerly a close ally of the United States, Pakistan is now heavily dependent on China, militarily and economically. Reports suggest that a bewildered Pakistan, cornered by a barrage of Indian missile attacks on its military assets, was considering a nuclear response to teach India a lesson. Pakistan is the world’s seventh largest nuclear-armed power with some 170 nuclear warheads -- all targeted at its single major enemy, India. Nuclear arms are Pakistan's key weapon of mass destruction. Thankfully, Pakistan is yet to develop substantially other three weapons for the purpose - biological, chemical and radiological.

Unlike India, Pakistan pays little attention to the so-called nuclear doctrine. In the case of war with India, Pakistan will not even blink before using its nuclear warheads with the ‘first strike’ option if it finds an Indian military aggression deeply penetrating through its defences causing a major setback that can’t be reversed by conventional means. The ‘first nuclear strike’ option could be lethal as it can defeat the other belligerent nuclear power by destroying its arsenal to the point where the attacking country can survive the weakened retaliation while the opposing side is left unable to continue war. The Pakistan armed forces and government were clearly bamboozled by the extremely swift moves by the Indian defence forces that nearly rattled its war machinery.