Associated Press, February 22, 2001

Pakistan May Put Nukes on Submarines

BY ZAHID HUSSAIN KARACHI

Pakistan -- In what appeared to be the first indication that Pakistan was ready to deploy nuclear weapons, its navy said Thursday that it may put nuclear missiles on its submarines.

Such a move would aggravate tension with nuclear neighbor India, which also announced its intention to deploy nuclear armed submarines.

''We are also fully prepared for the deployment of nuclear missiles by them. We are equal to it,'' India's defense ministry spokesman P.K. Bandopadhyay told The Associated Press in New Delhi.

Both countries exploded nuclear devices in 1998 and declared themselves nuclear powers.

''Pakistan may equip its submarines with nuclear missiles to defend its key naval installations,'' said navy spokesman Roshan Khayal.

It's not known how many or which nuclear weapons Pakistan possesses. But Pakistan recently added three French submarines to its fleet all capable of carrying nuclear warheads, Khayal said.

Most analysts do not believe either country has yet deployed nuclear weapons or developed nuclear warheads for their missile systems. Both have, however, tested medium- and long-range missiles capable of hitting deep within each other's territory.

''There is already a nuclear arms race in the region and this will only further fuel that race,'' said analyst Ayesha Siddiqa.

Pakistan did not offer a time frame for putting nuclear missiles on submarines.

On Wednesday, Rear Admiral Afzal Tahir, deputy chief of naval staff, said India has ambitions to nuclearize its submarine fleet, and that Pakistan has to keep pace.

''Nuclear weapons have fundamentally changed the dynamics of the military equation in the region and Pakistan has to prepare itself to meet any aggression,'' Tahir said.

''The threat primarily emanates from Indian submarines which are capable of striking shore targets with missiles,'' he said.

Pakistan and India have gone to war three times since British rule of the Asian subcontinent ended in 1947. The development of nuclear weapons on the subcontinent raised fears among the international community that another war in the region could result in the use of nuclear weapons.

Both countries have been pressed by a worried world to halt its nuclear program and not to develop nuclear weapons. The two say they want a minimum nuclear deterrent, but neither country has spelled out what that would mean and how many weapons that would involve.

India earlier released proposed plans for its nuclear development, which also called for the deployment of submarines equipped with nuclear weapons.

The two countries share access to the Arabian Sea. Karachi is Pakistan's biggest city, manufacturing and industrial hub and a major port on the Arabian Sea.

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