Pakistan steps up nuclear program

Pakistan is embarking on a major expansion of its nuclear weapons program by building a new reactor to produce plutonium, according to an analysis of satellite pictures by a Washington thinktank. According to the assessment, released on July 24, satellite imagery of the Khushab nuclear site in Pakistani Punjab shows a 1,000-megawatt reactor capable of generating plutonium for more than 40 nuclear warheads a year. The new reactor would produce 20 times the amount of plutonium Pakistan makes currently. This would be a major step for Pakistan as its nuclear weaponry relies on uranium, which is heavier than plutonium and thus requires a bigger missile to deliver a warhead. The Pakistani army is thought to have about 50 uranium warheads. Both India and Pakistan, which have fought three conventional wars in less than 60 years, already have nuclear weapons and an arsenal of missiles capable of reaching far beyond each other's territory. The analysis by the Institute for Science and International Security warns that South Asia could be heading for an arms race with "arsenals growing into the hundreds of nuclear weapons, or at minimum, vastly expanded stockpiles of military fissile material." The report comes as a nuclear deal between Washington and India, Pakistan's historic rival, is about to be debated in the US Congress. The deal would allow India access to nuclear technology in return for putting its civilian atomic regime under international safeguards. Many critics say it will spark an arms race in the region. Analysts in India and Pakistan were skeptical, not because of the report's contents but because of its timing. "My initial reaction is that one of the report's authors [David Albright] is a critic of the India-US nuclear deal and therefore this report has to be seen in the light of its passage through Congress," said Commodore Uday Bhaskar of Delhi's Institute for Defense Studies and Analysis. "It may be true but there's a reason why the report appears now." Others said there were "psychological" reasons why Pakistan may have stepped up its nuclear program. Ayesha Siddiqi-Agha, an Pakistan-based writer on defense issues, pointed out that ever since Washington had proposed the deal with India, the Pakistani establishment had been keen to match it. "The signal is that while India surges ahead, Pakistan has ways to pull them off balance. So this may be about restoring a psychological balance between the two," said Agha. There is also some speculation in Delhi that the new plant may be a fresh sign of China's deep commitment to a strategic partnership with Pakistan. They already share extensive military and diplomatic ties. "China has supported Pakistan since the '80s and it remains the wild card here," said Commodore Bhaskar. "At the time of the Indo-US deal, there were clear indications that Beijing thought if Washington can assist India, China can aid Pakistan."