ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, June 5 (UPI) -- Defending its nuclear program, Pakistan accused India of introducing nuclear weapons to South Asia.
The Hindu newspaper said Monday that in an indirect reference to India, Gen. Ehsan-ul-Haque, chairman of Pakistan's joint chiefs committee, said "someone else," and not Islamabad, introduced nuclear weapons into South Asia.
"We did not siphon off nuclear materials from internationally provided nuclear facilities. Somebody else did that. We didn't retest nuclear weapons in South Asia in 1998. Somebody else did that. We didn't test nuclear weapons even for 24 years after 1974; (we) kept on drawing the attention of the international community to what was about to happen. We have had some legitimate security concerns," the general said.
He described Pakistani nuclear scientist A.Q. Khan's clandestine nuclear arms proliferation activities as a "sordid tale." Maintaining that decisive action had been initiated against Khan, despite his status in Pakistan as a hero of its nuclear program, Haque sought to present another story about the country's strategic choice to go nuclear.
"Pakistan had been divided only three years earlier through the use of force and foreign intervention. At that point in time (1974), a Smiling Buddha comes into the world. A nuclear test is described as Smiling Buddha. So what do you do about it," he said.
"Why India went for 1998 tests is known to the whole world. It is known to us. What Pakistan did after that is known to everybody. So what is the point in raking up this issue of known facts?" Indian Defense Minister Pranab Mukherjee said in response.
