Pakistan’s nuke sites at risk, says expert

Toronto, Nov. 23: A Taliban insurgency and the war in neighbouring Afghanistan have put Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal at risk giving rise to a “troubling” situation, said an arms control expert who served as the National Security Adviser to the former US President, Mr George W. Bush.

“The situation in Pakistan is troubling from a lot of perspectives,” said Mr Stephen Hadley, who now advises Washington-based thinktank the US Institute of Peace.

“There is a lot of concern about what happens to Pakistan’s nuclear weapons if the government fragments in some way,” he said on Sunday at an international security conference in Halifax.

Mr Hadley said that there was concern in the Bush administration after the September 2001 terrorist attack that US-led military action inside Afghanistan might destabilise Pakistan and could even lead to a Taliban government.

“So far that hasn’t happened, and Pakistan’s nuclear weapons remain firmly in the control of the established civilian government,” Mr Hadley was quoted as saying by media reports here.

He also said that the US has assisted Pakistan since 9/11 in maintaining legitimate command and control efforts over its arsenal.

“Whenever we checked with our military and intelligence people, we said, ‘Is this a nuclear arsenal at risk?’ The answer so far has always been, ‘No,’” Mr Hadley said.

“And we have now a democratic government in Pakistan that is really revitalising their effort against the Taliban. They see it now for what it is — a strategic threat to the stability of that democracy,” Mr Hadley said. He said while in the last eight years all stakeholders have done “pretty well” in managing the affairs.