Pak. cannot control terrorism on its soil: Shivshankar Menon

“Threat of tactical nuclear weapons deployment against India higher".

November 20, 2016 03:45 am | Updated December 02, 2016 04:33 pm IST - NEW DELHI:

Pakistan can no longer control terrorism on its soil, believes former National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon, as terrorism is “hard-wired into Pakistan’s society and polity.”

“I am not so sure that it’s any longer within Pakistan’s capacity to stop terrorism”, he said speaking to a television channel on Saturday.

Sounding a warning note on Pakistan’s nuclear capabilities, Mr. Menon, who served as High Commissioner to Pakistan before he was Foreign Secretary and then the NSA, said that the likelihood of tactical nuclear weapons being used against India has increased, with “younger officers in an Army that is increasingly religiously motivated and less and less professional and that has consistently produced rogue officers and staged coups against its own leaders.”

According to a release from TV Today’s “To The Point” programme, Mr. Menon said that this, in turn, meant that there was an increased possibility of an “all-out nuclear war when India retaliates against tactical nuclear weapons with massive retaliation of its own.”

No First Use policy

However, the former National Security Adviser also hit out at Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar’s suggestion last week that India’s No First Use (NFU) policy should be reconsidered, adding that the Defence Minister doesn’t have a right to voice “personal opinions” on nuclear policy in public “when that opinion contradicts the official policy of the country,” the TV channel added.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.