india

Updated: Jun 24, 2020 03:18 IST

India’s national security establishment is not unduly perturbed by Pakistan’s test of the short-range nuclear capable Ghaznavi missile last Thursday which they believe is part of Islamabad’s continued sabre-rattling over the Kashmir issue and will not indulge in a tit-for-tat counter, national security officials said on condition of anonymity.

However, the officials, and external affairs officials and scientists Hindustan Times spoke to say that the launch underscores the deep dependence of Pakistan on China for its missile capability (the Ghanznavi’s delivery system is a derivative of the Chinese M-11 missle). They added that India’s own missile capabilities are much more advanced than Pakistan’s.

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The M-11 missiles were acquired by Pakistan from China along with blue-prints of the U-235 nuclear device in 1987. North Korea also played a significant role in Pakistan’s missile development.

Pakistan has sought to internationalise India’s move to bifurcate the state of Jammu & Kashmir into two union territories and to scrap constitutional provisions that gave the state special status and its residents special privileges.

The Indian officials said local missile developers and the Strategic Force Command are confident of India’s capabilities and have no intention of getting into a wrestling match with Rawalpindi GHQ. “ The whole idea behind these intemperate statements of war in the sub-continent is to provoke an Indian political reaction and force P-5 (the permanent members of the UN Security Council) to preach peace to the Modi government,” one official said.

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The officials said India’s missile capability and potential is way beyond the declared range levels for land-based as well as submarine based delivery systems. The Agni-5 missile platform has a 5,000 km range and the Ship Submersible Ballistic Nuclear Arihant (submarine) has a proven missile with a range of 700 km proven missile and the Defence Research development Organisation has also successfully tested the 3,000 km range submarine-fired K-4 missile. According to experts, while there is no successor to Agni-5 on drawing board, the ranges of existing missiles in India’s armory can be improved drastically if the political leadership gives permission.

“ Pakistan should understand the reason behind the growing ambiguity of the Narendra Modi government over the traditional “no first use” draft nuclear doctrine. India cannot have NFU with both its neighbours parcticising first use doctrine and Islamabad threatening Armageddon to the world time and again to fulfil its political agendas,” said another official.