Pakistan’s Nuclear Program in Safe Hand: Manmohan Singh

GUWAHATI: Even as concern mounts around the world about the growing anarchy in nuclear armed-Pakistan, prime minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday said India has been assured that Pakistan’s nuclear weapons are in safe hands “as of now”.
The PM did not specify where the assurance had come from. But his comment clearly signified that India has been worried enough to seek reassurance on that count. Significantly, there have been a series of high-level exchanges between India and the US of late. The PM recently met US President Barack Obama at the G20 meet in London, and the problem of terror in Af-Pak (Afghanistan-Pakistan) figured in their discussions.Senior Obama administration officials like US special envoy for Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke and chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Mike Mullen also made high-profile visits to the region recently.
The PM’s comment on Sunday was in response to questions raised by opposition BJP about the unrest in Pakistan and the increasing fire-power of the Taliban in the neighbouring country.
“We have been assured that Pakistan’s nuclear weapons are in safe hands as of now. And I have no reason to disbelieve the assurance,” Singh said when asked whether there is a threat of the Taliban capturing Pakistan’s nuclear assets.
Only a day earlier, BJP president Rajnath Singh had expressed concern that large parts of Pakistan were under “Taliban control”. Addressing an election rally at Behali in Assam’s Sonitpur district, Rajnath said, “Some provinces of Pakistan are under the control of Taliban. New Delhi has to be prepared to tackle the situation.”
Addressing a news conference at Amingaon in Guwahati just before a Congress election rally, the PM also said Maoists and terrorism posed a great threat to the country’s security and integrity as these hampered development.
“The twin menaces need to be dealt with a firm hand and we are committed to it. All right-thinking people should get together to counter the threat,” Singh said. Congress, the PM added, was the only party competent to handle these problems.
Taking serious note of the Maoist attacks in five states during the first phase of the polls, the PM said he did not think that the remaining phases of elections would be violent. Singh attacked the BJP-led NDA’s track record in tackling terror attacks when they were in power at the Centre. “During the Mumbai terror attack, the (Congress-led) UPA government dealt with the situation with a firm hand unlike the Opposition parties. What steps did they (NDA) take during their time to control terrorism? There is always a difference between BJP’s words and actions,” Singh said.
On the recent bomb blasts in Assam, the state he represents in the Rajya Sabha, Singh said: “I share the grief of the victims of the recent violence. And we are committed to stop this mindless violence.” A renewed effort was needed to control insurgency in the North-East, he said.
The PM welcomed the unilateral ceasefire declared by a section of Ulfa last year. “I do not agree that violence is a means to achieve a goal. I think those who are with weapons cannot work for the poorer and weaker sections of society.”