ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s missile expert described US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard’s allegations before the Senate hearing as divorced from technical realities and based on a misunderstanding of the purpose of Pakistan’s nuclear and missile program.
Syed Muhammad Ali, an Islamabad based strategic affairs expert said that Pakistan’s deterrence posture remains India-centric and driven by its national security compulsions within South Asia rather than global strategic ambitions.
The remarks came after US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard told a Senate hearing that Pakistan’s long-range missile development could potentially include intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) capable of reaching the US homeland.
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“Russia, China, North Korea, Iran, and Pakistan have been developing an array of delivery systems with nuclear and conventional payloads that put our homeland within range,” pic.twitter.com/jHkV9vilx7
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Responding to the claims, Islamabad-based expert Syed Muhammad Ali said Pakistan strategic capabilities, missile ranges and force posture, are aimed at deterring India, not to project power beyond the region.
Even Pakistan’s longest-range missiles are designed to ensure credibility of its deterrence with minimum resources, deny India strategic depth and ensure survivability of its strategic forces, he added.
“Pakistan’s nuclear doctrine is based on credible minimum deterrence, to maintain strategic stability in South Asia,” he said.
However, the US must not ignore the reality of India’s ICBM tests, growing fleet of nuclear armed ballistic missile nuclear submarines, largest unsafeguarded nuclear program in the developing world and an ambitions global nuclear force posture, which is way beyond the need to deter China or Pakistan but will eventually threaten the US mainland as its peer competitor, he added.
Unlike India, Pakistan has consistently demonstrated strategic restraint, fool proof command and control, immaculate safety and security record and unwavering commitment towards non-proliferation.
According to Ali, the size of New Delhi’s nuclear and missile program provides clear evidence of Indian global ambitions, which have eclipsed the missile and nuclear arsenals possessed by even established global powers such as UK and France.
Several US administrations have repeatedly appreciated Pakistan’s strategic responsibility and restraint, expressed confidence in Pakistan’s nuclear safety and security architecture as an enduring commitment towards regional strategic stability.
