Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf lawmaker Dr Shireen Mazari on Sunday expressed concern over the continuing silence of the government over the increasing Indian bellicosity.

Shireen Mazari, who is also a member of the NA Standing Committees on Defence and Foreign Affairs, pointed out, “Indian army chief General Rawat, soon after taking charge, asserted the centrality of the Cold Start Doctrine in the context of India’s military doctrine vis-a-vis Pakistan. The doctrine is a destabilising, preemptive doctrine that threatens the stability of the nuclear deterrence and shifts India from deterrence to a war-fighting mode vis-a-vis Pakistan. Yet our defence minister has maintained an inexplicable silence reflecting the government’s policy of ignoring a critical strategic development that directly threatens Pakistan.”

The PTI legislator also said that the government and defence establishment has seemingly ignored not only this doctrinal development by India but also its ongoing fast paced nuclear force development and posturing especially its development of MIRVs alongside its ballistic missile defence.

Welcoming the successful testing of the submarine launched cruise missile by Pakistan, which gives Pakistan second strike capability and is a step towards deterrence stabilisation, she reiterated that there was a need to address the growing strategic instability holistically and also to make the world, especially India’s strategic allies, aware of the negative impact and fallout of India’s doctrinal and force posture developments on a region that is now nuclearised.

Instead of focusing on and targeting Pakistan’s strictly deterrence measures, the US and other countries actively aiding and abetting India’s nuclear weapons development should soberly assess the impact of their military aid and support to India.

“Equally important, our defence establishment should also explain to the nation the measures it is taking to counter these aggressive moves by India. So far there seems to be a disturbing sanguinity that one sees within the government and the defence establishment,” she concluded.