India Reviews Nuclear Policy : Sees Emerging Threat in Pakistan Capability
India said today that it has decided to review its nuclear policy, hitherto restricted to peaceful uses, because of what it called an emerging nuclear threat from Pakistan.
Addressing the lower house of parliament, Defense Minister K. C. Pant said: “The emerging nuclear threat to us from Pakistan is forcing us to review our options.
“I assure the House that our response will be adequate to our perception of the threat.”
India exploded a nuclear device in the western deserts of Rajasthan in 1974 but has since consistently declared that it would only use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.
Pant’s statement to the Lok Sabha (lower house of Parliament) during a debate on defense allocations, follows mounting concern in India over reports that Pakistan has developed a nuclear weapons capacity and is ready to use it as a last resort.
The minister did not specifically say that India has decided to develop nuclear weapons.
India’s alarm soared last month after Pakistan’s top nuclear scientist said his country had the atom bomb and would use it as a last resort.
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