ISLAMABAD: National Command Authority’s adviser retired Lt
Gen Khalid Kidwai on Wednesday shed rare light on the ‘Full Spectrum
Deterrence’ policy that guides the development of nuclear capability,
saying it aimed at bringing every Indian target into Pakistan’s striking
range.
Gen Kidwai, who founded the Strategic Plans
Division and headed it for nearly 14 years, was speaking at a seminar on
“Defence, Deterrence and Stability in South Asia” co-hosted by local
think tank Center for International Strategic Studies (CISS) and
London’s International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS).
The
three elements of Full Spectrum Deterrence (FSD) shared by Gen Kidwai
envisaged possession of “full spectrum of nuclear weapons in all three
categories — strategic, operational and tactical, with full range
coverage of the large Indian land mass and its outlying territories”.
Gen Kidwai said it meant India would have “no place to hide”.
The
second element says that Pakistan should have “appropriate weapons
yield coverage and the numbers to deter the adversary’s pronounced
policy of massive retaliation”. He explained that this implies that
“counter-massive retaliation punishment will be as severe if not more”.
The
third aspect is about the “liberty of choosing from a full spectrum of
targets, notwithstanding the Ballistic Missile Defence, to include
counter-value, counter-force, and battlefield” targets.
FSD
was approved by the National Command Authority — the principal policy
making body on research, development, production, use and security of
the country’s nuclear programme — at its meeting on Sept 5, 2013. The
policy was developed in response to India’s war fighting concepts of
‘Cold Start’ and Pro Active Operations (PAO) to provide a range of
options to the decision-makers.
Pakistan calls its nukes
the weapons of peace. Gen Kidwai reiterated that by saying that
Pakistan’s “robust nuclear capability” and the policy of ‘Full Spectrum
Deterrence’ reduced the chances of war.
“Because of
mutually assured destruction there is unlikelihood of a hot war or a
conventional war and, therefore, the conflict has shifted towards
sub-conventional level. As of now, that could be seen in full play at
our Western borders,” Gen Kidwai said, recalling the public
pronouncements by Indian leadership of using terrorism to destabilise
Pakistan.
IISS Team Leader Desmond Bowen spoke about the
difference in understanding of deterrence in the West and South Asia.
He also underlined the risks associated with the nuclear capability.
“Security
of Pakistan is a sovereign responsibility and so is the calculation of
risk in these matters. How manageable are those risks now, but above all
in times of crises,” he said.
CISS Executive Director
Sarwar Naqvi gave an overview of the regional trends. He observed that
Pakistan was deeply sceptical of President Trump’s South Asia policy.
Meanwhile, in relations with India, he noted, the stalemate was
persisting.
Mr Naqvi expressed concern over nuclear
politics rhetoric and the introduction of technologically advanced and
sophisticated nuclear weapons.
