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Pakistan, India, and Nuclear Weapons: Not Reassuring |
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American politicians may want to “obliterate Iran,” but I’m more worried about Pakistan and India fronting like they want to obliterate each other:
Pakistan said it test-fired a short-range cruise missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead Thursday, one day after archrival India test-fired a long-range missile with nuclear capability.
The 220-mile-range Pakistani missile, known as the Ra’ad or Hatf VIII, was developed exclusively for launch from aircraft, a military statement said.
The statement did not disclose the launch site but said the missile “has special stealth capabilities,” and is a “low altitude, terrain-following missile with high maneuverability.”
The missile “can deliver all types of warheads with great accuracy,” the military said.
Pakistan became a declared nuclear power in 1998 by conducting nuclear tests in response to those by India. Since then, the South Asian neighbors have both routinely test-fired missiles.
On Wednesday, India test-fired the Agni III, its longest-range missile designed to reach 1,900 miles — putting China’s major cities as well some targets deep in the Middle East into range.
India’s missile was launched from Wheeler Island off the eastern state of Orissa and is believed to be capable of carrying a 300-kiloton nuclear warhead.
Now I’m not going to play Chicken Little here. There are many pragmatic reasons why India and Pakistan would avoid war. I think the chances of conflict are slim to none. But these displays of nuclear capacity don’t achieve anything beyond making everybody nervous, especially with the situation in Pakistan seemingly so close to instability at any given time.
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Pakistan and India have been rivals since forever, so i dont really blame pakistan for developing nuclear weapons in response to India’s development of nuclear weapons. I dont really understand though why Pakistan arrested Abdul Kadir Khan after they had him make the atomic bomb for them?