Cooperation with India on nuclear safety, security possible, says foreign secretary

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan government has hinted at the possibility of cooperation with India in the realm of nuclear safety, security and regulatory framework, foreign secretary Aizaz Chaudhry stated while speaking at a daylong international conference on ‘Assessing South Asia’s Nuclear Security’ here Thursday.

“Nuclear safety and security provide another avenue for cooperation between India and Pakistan. Both sides can agree on sharing of best practices, experience and expertise,” Aizaz stated at the conference, which was jointly organised by the Centre for International Strategic Studies (CISS) and Atlantic Council, an American think-tank.

Pakistan and India have a working group on nuclear confidence building measures (CBMs), one of which is cooperation in case of nuclear accidents. The working group has, however, lately been dysfunctional because of suspension of bilateral dialogue. The two countries are also part of other international conventions and instruments on nuclear safety and security. Aizaz thinks India and Pakistan can cooperate on nuclear safety and security within the framework of those conventions.

Speaking about other possible nuclear CBMs with India, the secretary pointed out that Pakistan has extensive experience on the establishment and functioning of an independent nuclear regulatory body. India, it needs to be recalled, lacks an independent regulatory agency.

The foreign secretary further spoke about Pakistan’s application for membership of Nuclear Suppliers Group and recalled the merits and strengths of its case. He hoped that NSG members would uphold non-proliferation goals and objectives of strategic stability while considering membership cases.

Other experts participating in the conference looked at various issues affecting strategic stability in South Asia – the growing conventional imbalance; the introduction of tactical nuclear weapons; nuclearisation of Indian Ocean Region; Indian plans for ballistic missile defence (BMD) with a view to develop recommendations for policymakers. The conference also looked at future trends.

Experts agreed that in the absence of an overarching restraint regime and institutionalized crisis management mechanisms, the strategic environment in the region remains fragile. The executive director of CISS Ali Sarwar Naqvi, while introducing the conference theme, said India’s acquisition of advanced weapons system, along with sophisticated missile-defence systems, introduction of technologically advanced and sophisticated nuclear weapons, and provocative war fighting doctrines under a nuclear overhang can only make strategic stability more fragile. He further pointed out that deepening Indo-US defence and strategic cooperation will disturb the strategic balance in the region and may trigger an arms competition in the region involving not only Pakistan and India but China also.

The director of South Asia at Atlantic Council Bharat Gopalaswamy said, though worst assumptions of western think-tanks about Pakistan and India proved to be overblown, it remained a fact that both countries have to deal with same set of challenges relating to nuclear stability, safety and security.

Talking about nuclearisation of Indian Ocean and its implication, nuclear expert Zahir Kazmi contended that the development would affect the security interests of all littoral states in addition to impacting regional and global security. He also flagged safety concerns arising out of India’s naval nuclearisation.

Another nuclear expert Dr. Adil Sultan, while speaking about Indian Cold Start Doctrine’s (CSD) influence on Pakistan’s decision to introduce battlefield nuclear weapons said. Indians tried to exploit the ‘perceived’ gap below Pakistan’s nuclear threshold. These new war-fighting doctrines, if left unchallenged, could have undermined the credibility of Pakistan’s nuclear deterrence, he said, adding short-range ballistic missile ‘Nasr’ was introduced to plug the ‘perceived’ gap, strengthen overall nuclear deterrence and maintain strategic stability in the region.

Tariq Osman Hyder called for international support for the Pakistani proposal for Strategic Restraint Regime and other confidence building measures.

Dr. Zafar Nawaz Jaspal, associate professor at Quaid-i-Azam University, explained the causes behind the widening conventional imbalance between India and Pakistan and its impact on the region’s security and strategic environment.

In Dr. Jaspal’s view, India’s economic growth, rivalry with Pakistan, absence of bilateral arms control between India and Pakistan were the reasons behind India’s massive military build-up. This, he believed, was causing strategic stability-instability paradox in the South Asian strategic environment. He opined that India was disinterested in Pakistani proposal for nuclear restraint regime due to its advantageous position in the conventional arms sphere.