DOES PAKISTAN SPONSOR TERRORISM AS SOME INDIANS PUT BLAME ON IT ?

[Note: We tried to reach out the Indian-American Intellectual Forum  in vain (Does it really exist ? Below is an excerpt) We have instead found another group UBER GOD ( please note the title head keeps changing) who says the Forum is "a group of Hindu hardliners masquerading as Indian-American intellectuals "].

- Indian American Intellectual Forum

Arguing that Islamabad is using terror as a tool for its foreign policy, especially against India, an Indian-American group asked Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday to declare Pakistan as a terrorist State and seize all its nuclear weapons.

"Instead of penalizing Pakistan for its support to the notorious terrorists and spreading global terrorism, US, unfortunately, is rewarding this country with the deadly weapons and billions of dollars of hard cash," Narayan Kataria, head of New York-based Indian American Intellectual Forum, said in a letter to Clinton. Similar letters have also been written to several influential lawmakers.

"We should recognize in unambiguous terms that Pakistan is the root cause of terror and instability in that region. In order to win the war in Afghanistan it is essential that American war strategy should be focused on Pakistan. In the next 18 months, American troops will be leaving Af-Pak region," Kataria said. The letter said, Indian American Intellectual Forum believe that it is inappropriate for the US to prop up Pakistan and balance its strategic partnership with India by selling deadly F-16 to Pakistan Air Force together with other advanced weapons and avionics for air-to-air combat that appear to us unnecessary for counter-insurgency operations in mountainous area against Taliban.

"This is being done in spite of the admission by General (Pervez) Musharraf that Pakistan is modifying the arms, which are meant to fight the terrorists, for use against India," the letter said. "Intelligence inputs received by Indian officials indicate that Pakistan-based terror outfit Lashkar-e-Toiba has acquired as many as 50 para-gliding equipments from China for the potential use to launch suicide attacks in India. This, obviously, could not be accomplished without Pakistan 's active connivance, complicity and tactical support," it said.(Great Hindu.. read more)

The Hindu

INDIA, PAKISTAN HAVE  UPSET NUCLEAR DETERRENT BALANCE: Hillary Clinton

Narayan Lakshman

"U.S working with both countries to ensure that their stockpiles are safeguarded"

The risk of a nuclear attack has increased

U.S. to boost funding for maintaining weapons stockpile

WASHINGTON DC: India and Pakistan have pursued nuclear weapons “in a way that has upset the balance of nuclear deterrent,” Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Friday.

That was why the United States was working with both countries “very hard to try to make sure that their nuclear stockpiles are well tended to, and that they participate with us in trying to limit the number of nuclear weapons,” she said.

Speaking at at the University of Louisville, Kentucky, Ms. Clinton argued that the nature of the nuclear threat had changed. “As President Obama has said, the risk of a nuclear attack has actually increased. And the potential consequences of mishandling this challenge are deadly.” Nuclear terrorism presented a different challenge, but the consequences would still be devastating, she said.

Doomsday scenario

Highlighting the growing threat of nuclear terrorism and nuclear proliferation a few days ahead of the 47-nation Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, Ms. Clinton illustrated what a doomsday scenario would look like, given these risks. “A 10-kiloton nuclear bomb detonated in Times Square in New York City could kill a million people. Many more would suffer from the haemorrhaging and weakness that comes from radiation sickness.”

In the light of these risks, Ms. Clinton outlined three main elements of the U.S.'s strategy to safeguard itself and its allies from nuclear attacks: support for the basic framework of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT); a global effort to secure vulnerable nuclear material and enhance nuclear security; and efforts to maintain a safe, secure, and effective nuclear deterrent for the U.S. itself.

Disarmament move

As for the impact of the new U.S.-Russia START on countries where non-proliferation challenges remained, Ms. Clinton said she did not suggest that moves towards disarmament by the U.S. and Russia would convince Iran or North Korea to change their behaviour. “But ask yourselves, can our efforts help…persuade other nations to support serious sanctions against Iran? I believe they could.”

Following the recently announced Nuclear Posture Review and its implications for military expenditure, the Secretary said: “Our budget devotes $7 billion to maintaining our nuclear weapons stockpile and complex…And over the next five years, we intend to boost funding for these important activities by more than $5 billion.”


Related Topics:
The Siasat Daily 
India and Pak Have Upset Balance of Nuke Deterrence

The New York Times: 
Witness - Breaking The Myths of Pakistan's Tribal Areas