A former Pakistani Army officer dismissed any possibilities of a war with neighbouring India. General Kidwai who has served as Adviser to Pakistan’s National Command, has admitted that it becomes increasingly difficult for Pakistan and India to trust each other mainly because of the unstable regional environment. Analysing the current political scenario from a different angle, the defense expert said that one nuclear power could not attack another nuclear power without considering the overall global situation and after-effects of any such moves. The most decorated general of Pakistan argued that “tactical nuclear weapons in his country’s arsenal made nuclear war with India less likely”, saying: “I am fond of calling them weapons of peace, the option of war is foreclosed.”

While speaking at the Carnegie International Nuclear Policy Conference in Washington DC, General Kidwai said, “For 15 years, I and my colleagues in the SPD worked for deterrence to be strengthened in South Asia comprehensively so as to prevent war, to deter aggression and thereby for peace, howsoever uneasy, to prevail.” He added, “We have worked to create road blocks in the path of those who thought that there was space for conventional war despite nuclear weapons of Pakistan. By introducing a variety of tactical nuclear weapons in Pakistan’s inventory and in the strategic stability debate, we have blocked the avenues for serious military operations by the other side.”

By Premji