Pakistan president Asif Ali Zardari made a sensational offer of no-first-strike against India on Saturday.
Can he convert it into a doctrine acceptable to army?
NEW DELHI: Pakistan president Asif Ali Zardari made a sensational offer of no-first-strike against India on Saturday. Though his statement is in keeping with the friendly overtures he has made to India since the new democratic government took over from the military in Islamabad, it has made New Delhi sceptical.
While privately welcoming Zardari’s offer, the Indian establishment realises that converting this into a doctrine acceptable to Pakistan’s military commanders would be difficult. Though the army has retreated to the background for the moment, it still remains one of the most powerful institutions in the country and elected governments cannot take a decision on such a pivotal strategic issue without the army giving the go ahead.
“Yes, this is the first time that a Pakistan leader has dared to talk about no-first-strike, but the army has to see eye to eye with the president for the offer to go beyond a mere expression of intent,” says strategic analyst K Subrahamanyam. He praised Zardari for making the dramatic offer, but like many others in he was sceptical of the all-powerful army backing Zardari’s proposal.
Zardari’s proposal is a dramatic departure from Pakistan’s known nuclear stand. The rationale for Islamabad’s nuclear programme was to protect itself from India’s much larger military strength. As a smaller country, Pakistani strategists felt it was the best option to get strategic balance in the sub-continent.
India and Pakistan have come out with proposals on nuclear issues from time to time.
Pakistan’s pet theme before the 1998 tit-for-tat tests was a nuclear-free South Asia. In September that year India offered Pakistan a pact on no-first-use, which Islamabad rejected when the foreign secretaries of the two countries met.
Zardari’s offer is a good beginning, but there has to be more confidence-building
measures on both sides for the offer to take formal shape. Much groundwork has to be covered and mutual trust gained.
g_seema@dnaindia.net 
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