PAKISTANI scientists have secretly been working round the clock for the past three years to accelerate production of weapons-grade uranium for atomic warheads. According to a leading Pakistani nuclear physicist, the country could have more warheads than previously thought. Pakistan successfully tested a ballistic surface-to-surface missile yesterday for the second day running, increasing tension with its nuclear rival, India, and once again proving that it also has the means to deliver its weapons.
On the other side of the border, Atal Behari Vajpayee, the Indian Prime Minister, said his country’s patience with Islamic militant attacks was running out: “There is a limit to our patience,” he said in a national television address.
Pervez Hoodbhoy, professor of nuclear physics at Quaid-e-Azam university in Islamabad, told The Times: “The scientists have been working in three shifts over the past three years since the Kargil conflict.” Dr Hoodbhoy said there were clear indications that the nuclear warheads were already in place on missiles.
“We are much closer to a nuclear confrontation with India than at any other time,” he said.
The disclosure raised the possibility that Pakistan could assemble more nuclear warheads than the estimated 30 to 50. Each warhead is thought to have the same explosive power as the US atomic weapon dropped over Hiroshima in 1945. Reports say that India has already taken its warheads out of storage to be fitted to delivery systems.
Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, leaves for the region today to try to ease tensions and to open dialogue. He will propose establishing greater contact between Islamabad and New Delhi to avoid either side accidentally triggering a nuclear holocaust.
President Bush appealed to President Musharraf to “show results” by clamping down on attacks in India by militants from Pakistan. Mr Musharraf, who is due to deliver a televised address to the Pakistani people today, said that he had acted to stop all military actions and insisted he was not looking for confrontation with India. But he also vowed to defend himself if attacked.
In an interview with the Washington Post, he accused India of trying to “destabilise me, my Government and Pakistan” in the past weeks and gave warning that if war broke out “we’ll take the offensive into Indian territory”.
India, which outnumbers Pakistan in conventional and nuclear weapons, paid particularly close attention to the missile tests over the weekend.
Pakistan successfully tested a short-range Ghaznavi missile capable of hitting targets 180 miles away yesterday. On Saturday it tested a Ghauri missile with a range of 950 miles. It is widely expected to test fire its long range Shaheen 2 missile, which can reach targets 1,800 miles away.
“The flight data indicated that all design parameters have been successfully validated,” a military spokesman said. The development is said to have enhanced Pakistan’s tactical nuclear strike capability.
The Ghauri missile is capable of hitting Delhi, Bombay and other major Indian cities, while the Ghaznavi, according to defence experts, could be used against the Indian forces on the front line. “Ghaznavi underscores Pakistan’s capability for tactical nuclear strike,” a defence analyst said.
The tests were conducted in defiance of an appeal by President Bush and President Putin who, on Saturday, expressed concern over the missile launches and urged Mr Musharraf to halt raids into Indian-controlled territory.
Pakistan welcomed Mr Putin’s suggestion for a meeting between Indian and Pakistani leaders in Kazakhstan next month. Pakistani officials said that President Musharraf was prepared for talks with Indian leaders “anytime, anywhere”.
Pakistan insisted that the missile tests were routine. “The tests were merely a technical requirement and it should not be seen as an offensive measure,” Nisar Memon, the Minister for Information, said. Nevertheless, the timing was a defiant gesture that added to world alarm.
