Daily Times

Conspiracy theorists of Pakistan have long been predicting that the ultimate objective of the US’s engagement in the region is taking out Pakistan’s nuclear installations. However, coming from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, it was like a bolt from the blue. President Ahmadinejad at a press conference in Tehran broadcast live on state television said that his country has information that the US wants to sabotage Pakistan’s nuclear programme. While Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani has stated time and again that Pakistan’s nuclear installations are safe and the US has no interest in sabotaging them, this statement will only serve to strengthen conspiracy theorists’ claims.

Iran has long been in the eye of a nuclear storm and has weathered UN sanctions for sustaining its nuclear programme in defiance of the West, which suspect it of ultimately using it for military purposes. Recently, the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA’s) new chief has accused Iran’s nuclear programme of potentially having a military dimension on the basis of new evidence. It is quite possible that while venting his anger against the US for this latest accusation, the Iranian president sent a feeler toward Pakistan to find a kindred soul caught in similar circumstances. His statement can only be taken seriously if Iran shares with Pakistan the verifiable information on the basis of which President Ahmadinejad has made this rather unusual remark. Pakistan’s situation is very different from that of Iran, which has a hostile relationship with the US but has survived by dint of its oil wealth. However, in today’s world, nuclear capability is fast losing its value as the currency of power.

Consider, for example, Pakistan. We have been continuing with our nuclear weapons programme without taking stock of the costs it is incurring and the benefits it is accruing. Achieving nuclear capability does not end there. Nuclear weapons have very high maintenance, upgrading and waste management costs. Can Pakistan afford to divert funds to maintain this capability while ignoring health, education, social welfare and human development? Moreover, in asymmetrical warfare of the kind we are facing, instead of providing protection, nuclear weapons have nearly become a liability. There is widespread concern for their safety. In such a situation, it would be best if Iran left Pakistan alone and dealt with its conflicts with the US on its own. *