Army chief says Pak going "beyond nuclear deterrence"

Pune, Sep 2 (PTI) Pakistan is "going beyond nuclear deterrence" if reports of it having a large stockpile of nuclear missiles with India specific delivery system are true, Army Chief General Deepak Kapoor said today. "It is a matter of concern for us," Kapoor said reacting to an article published in the latest issue of ''Bulletin of the Atomic Scientist'' about enhanced nuclear arsenal of Pakistan.

"There were certain degrees of deterrence and the figure of 70-90 nuclear warheads directed against a country certainly goes beyond the concept of deterrence," the army chief said. In the article, US experts Robert S Norris and Hans Kristensen estimate that Pakistan''s nuclear stockpile has jumped to an estimated 70-90 warheads from a previous figure of 60.

"A new nuclear-capable ballistic missile is being readied for deployment, and two nuclear capable cruise missiles are under development. Two new plutonium production reactors and a second chemical separation facility also are under construction," they wrote.

On the Chinese incursions along the border, the army chief said there was no cause for "alarm". "The level of incursions was the same as it was last year," he said adding that Indian troops also carry out patrolling along the border which "could be perceived differently".

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