In line with its real agenda of maligning Pakistan and its nuclear programme, the United States has once again leaked the so-called intelligence assessment about the fate of Pakistan’s nuclear assets in a scenario minus President Pervez Musharraf.
This is yet another attempt by the United States to create misunderstanding and confusion about Pakistan’s nuclear capability and its ability to secure its strategic assets. This is despite the fact that Pakistan has one of the most efficient command and control system, which is not individual-specific.
It may be emphasized that the security and safety of the programme is not dependent on the person of President Pervez Musharraf as there is an elaborate institutionalized mechanizm in place to take care of all aspects of the country’s nuclear programme.
No doubt, President Musharraf made a lot of efforts to come out with foolproof security arrangements but this has been done in consultations with other stakeholders in the system and custodial control is not responsibility of a single person. Otherwise too, it looks very funny to suggest that there could be any security lapse in this regard.
Pakistan has a marvellous history of its nuclear programme that remained shrouded in mystery even on the fateful day of May 28, 1998 when the country was forced to denote its nuclear device to restore the strategic balance disturbed by Pokhran tests. Many including the United States and India were not fully sure whether Pakistan really had the capability to respond effectively to the threat as some of them believed that Islamabad was mere bluffing about its nuclear capabilities. If the United States and others could not get any clue of what actually was happening in respect of nuclear activities in Pakistan, how is it possible for anyone to get physical hold of its nuclear assets. We would, therefore, advise the United States not to worry about the safety of Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal and instead pay attention to its own problems including daily body-bags in Iraq. No one is going to buy doctored intelligence reports, which are used to spread disinformation.