Nukes that guarantee peace

Of the 2,734 nuclear incidents world-wide recorded by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), including five in India, "not a single accident or breach happened in Pakistan, although our programme is 40 years old," said Foreign Secretary Aizaz Chaudhry on the eve of Nuclear Security Summit in Washington. But even then its nuclear programme is under sharper focus of western media and some hostile countries, particularly the one whose chief delegate in his speech couldn't desist passing a negative judgement about its security. Since Pakistan has further strengthened its security and protection of its nuclear assets and signed additional protocols such jaundiced innuendoes should have been spared. In fact, what ails him and many others is Pakistan's development of short-range missiles or what is commonly dubbed "small nukes as battlefield or tactical weapons". The purpose behind these weapons is to deter aggression. Pakistan wants to prevent war by preventing space Indians have created for war by building military installations close to Pakistani border as part of their Cold Start doctrine. But these weapons are fully secured with the help of some 25,000 servicemen, multilayered security barriers, electronic surveillance, radiation monitors, etc. The focus of the summit is not Pakistan but certain principles stating that nuclear security is essentially a national responsibility and all measures are voluntary. We expect prestigious newspapers like the New York Times to resist temptation of running a sensational and fabricated story like the one some time back that Pakistan might be on the verge of deploying a small tactical nuclear weapon that would be hard to protect from falling into the hands of terrorists. The danger of such a possibility is not here in Pakistan, but in Europe where footage has been discovered from the cupboard of the Paris carnage suspect depicting daily routine of senior scientists at a Belgian nuclear facility. Or, in Southeast Asia where North Korea would take pleasure in showcasing its nuclear capability with a view to annihilating the American cities. Nuclear Security Summit hosted by President Obama is expected to focus on security of nuclear material, reduction of highly enriched uranium and separated plutonium, detection of smuggling and cyber-security. Pakistan has excellent record in all these areas; so much so that impressed by its safety and security culture the IAEA now uses Pakistan's Centre of Excellency for Nuclear Security as a regional hub to offer training on all aspects of nuclear safety and security. Therefore, we see no reason that at the summit it should be under pressure to given up on its battlefield nuclear weapons option in the name of security.