[sacw] [ACT] IPARMW No.12 (4 Feb 00)

Harsh Kapoor act@egroups.com
Thu, 3 Feb 2000 22:12:15 +0100


India Pakistan Arms Race & Militarisation Watch No.12
4 February 2000
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[1.]
Posted below are 3 stories re the creation in Pakistan of the Nuclear
Command & control authority.

#1.
DAWN
3 February 2000

[Pakistan] National Command Authority formed

ISLAMABAD, Feb 2: In accordance with Pakistan's well- known nuclear
policy of responsibility and restraint, as reaffirmed by the chief
executive on several occasions, and with the objective of creating an
institutionalized command and control mechanism, consistent with
Pakistan's obligations as a nuclear power, the National Security Council
on Wednesday approved the establishment of National Command Authority
(NCA). The meeting was chaired by Chief Executive General Pervez
Musharraf.
The NCA will be responsible for policy formulation and will exercise
employment and development control over all strategic nuclear forces and
strategic organizations.
It will comprise Employment Control Committee and Development Control
Committee as well as Strategic Plans Division which will act as
secretariat.
The apex Employment Control Committee will be chaired by the head of the
government and include minister of foreign affairs (deputy chairman),
minister of defence, Minister of Interior, chairman of joint chiefs of
staff committee( CJCSC), services chiefs, director-general of Strategic
Plans Division (secretary) and technical advisers and others, as
required by the chairman.
The Development Control Committee will also be chaired by the head of
the government and include CJCSC (deputy chairman), service chiefs,
director- general of Strategic Plans Division and representative of the
strategic organizations and scientific community.
The Committee will control development of strategic assets. The
Strategic Plans Division, headed by a senior army officer, has been
established in the Joint Services Headquarters under CJCSC.
It will act as the secretariat for NCA and will perform the functions of
planning and coordination, in particular for establishing a reliable
command, control, communication, computers and intelligence (C4I)
network for the NCA. -APP
________

#2.

BBC News Online: World: South Asia
Thursday, 3 February, 2000, 14:48 GMT

Musharraf takes charge of nuclear weapons

By Zaffar Abbas in Islamabad
Pakistan has announced the creation of a high-powered command and
control authority to manage its nuclear and missile policy and
associated weapons system.
This is the first time that an organised structure has been designed for
the control, production and deployment of the nuclear arsenal in
Pakistan since the country carried out a series of nuclear tests in May
1998.
The National Command Authority was approved by the country's National
Security Council, which is headed by Pakistan's military ruler, General
Pervez Musharraf, and will be led by the head of government - currently
General Musharraf himself.
The authority will also include senior military commanders and ministers
for foreign affairs, interior and defence as well as other officials.
The overall authority for the country's nuclear weapons program could
eventually be in the hands of a civilian ruler once General Musharraf
restores democracy as he has promised to do.
Last October, when he overthrew elected Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif,
General Musharraf said democratic rule would return to Pakistan after he
revived the economy and cleaned up the corrupt political system.
The real strength of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal and its launching system
is still not known.
After the nuclear tests in 1998, Pakistan also carried successful tests
of its medium and long-range missiles.
Border battles
Since then, there has been a demand from the international community for
Pakistan to have a proper command and control mechanism for its nuclear
and missile system.
Pakistani officials said the decision to have a high-powered nuclear
command and control authority was in line with its international
commitment to pursue a policy of responsibility and restraint as a
nuclear power.
While previously saying Pakistan will follow a policy of restraint,
General Musharraf also warned that his country would consider using
nuclear weapons if its security was threatened by India.
The two countries have fought three wars since British rule in the
subcontinent ended in 1947. Last summer, they fought border battles in
the disputed Kashmir region, sparking fears that the conflict could
escalate into a full-scale war.
Relations between the two countries have never been good, and have
worsened following the December hijacking of an Indian Airlines plane.
India accused Pakistan of involvement, a charge Pakistan denies.
________

#3.

The Hindu
4 February 2000

Pak. signal to U.S. on n-command

By Amit Baruah

ISLAMABAD, FEB. 3 A National Command Authority (NCA), with an ``apex''
Employment Control Committee (ECC), has been set up to ``control and
command'' Pakistan's nuclear weapons following approval from the
National Security Council. The apex ECC, which will be the final
authority to decide on the use of nuclear weapons, will be chaired by
the ``head of Government''.

The official Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) news agency said late on
Wednesday that the NCA will be responsible for policy formulation and
will exercise ``employment and development control over all strategic
nuclear forces and strategic organisations''.

Given the suddenness of the announcement, it would not be unfair to link
the midnight statement to Pakistani ``signals'' towards the United
States in relation to a possible Clinton stopover in Pakistan. For long,
U.S. experts have been talking of credible command and control
mechanisms (not that there was much doubt that the military controlled
it all in Pakistan) and wanted that both India and Pakistan should
institute these structures.

The setting up of the NCA is an indicator to the U.S. and the rest of
the western world that Pakistan wants to manage its nuclear weapons
properly, consistent with a policy of responsibility and restraint. The
NCA will comprise the ``apex'' ECC, a Development Control Committee
(DCC) as well as a Strategic Plans Division to act as a Secretariat to
the Authority. This announcement, coming from a military Government, has
the ring of permanence about it.

The ECC, with the head of Government (the words Chief Executive or Prime
Minister have not been used) as Chairman, will also have the Foreign
Minister (deputy chairman), Defence Minister, Interior Minister,
Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC), the Service Chiefs,
Director-General, Strategic Plans Division (secretary), technical
advisors and others, as required by the Chairman.

The DCC, on the other hand, will be chaired by the head of Government
and will include CJCSC (deputy chairman), Services Chiefs,
Director-General, Strategic Plans Division and representatives of
strategic organisations and the strategic community. ``The Committee
will control development of strategic assets (read nuclear weapons),''
APP reported.

It is reasonably clear that while the ECC will be the final deciding
authority on the ``employment'' or use of nuclear weapons, the DCC will
develop Pakistan's nuclear weapons further. Interestingly, while there
are several civilian members of the ECC, the DCC is totally dominated by
the military, barring the ``head of Government'', who as of now, is the
Army Chief.

Ambiguity yet over control

The structure that has been laid out still does not convincingly explain
who controls the ``nuclear button'' in Pakistan. Given the fact that
Pakistan will eventually return to democracy, it would have been
instructive to define the ``head of Government''. Also, whether the
``Chairman'' of the ECC will decide on the use, or the entire Committee
will settle the matter, has not been settled in Wednesday night's
announcement.

It is also clear that the military wants to retain full control of the
development of nuclear weapon capability and does not trust civilians as
far as ``strategic assets'' are concerned. However, when it comes to
employment, the civilian component in that committee is strong.

Interestingly, the NCA has been formed ``in accordance with Pakistan's
well known nuclear policy of responsibility and restraint, as reaffirmed
by the Chief Executive on several occasions, and with the objective of
creating an institutionalised command and control mechanism, consistent
with Pakistan's obligation as a nuclear power....''
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D

[2.]

The Hindustan Times
Wednesday, February 2, 2000, New Delhi
=46oreign

India to buy 300 tanks from Russia

Moscow, February 1
(AFP)

INDIA IS to buy at least
300 T-90S tanks from Russia, Interfax news agency reported on Tuesday
quoting officials at the Chelyabinsk factory that manufactures them.

A contract was to be signed shortly after negotiations taking place in New
Delhi between Indian authorities and Russia's state enterprise for arms
sales Rosvooruzhenye. Interfax said the T-90S tank was tested by the Indian
military in 1998.

Ilya Klebanov, Russia's Deputy Premier in charge of the
military-industrial complex, said on Tuesday Russia could export more than
$4 billion worth of arms in 2000, a record since the fall of the Soviet
Union in 1991.

Itar-Tass news agency quoted him as saying that arms exports in 1999 came
to more than $3.5 billion.

"Exchanges with China and India represented more than 50 per cent of the
volume of military trade with Russia," Klebanov said after a Government
committee met to adopt a plan for developing military exchanges up to 2010.

He added that Russia also intended to "boost its activity on the Latin
American, African and Middle East arms markets".
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D

[3.]

Rediff on the Net
5 Feb 2000

Submarine warfare to feature in Indo-French naval exercise

Josy Joseph in New Delhi

Advanced naval exercises, including mock submarine warfare, will be
conducted for the first time between the French and Indian navies off
the Bombay coast later this month.

The Indo-French joint exercise, scheduled to begin on February 23, will
be the first advanced naval exercise between the two nations.

Contrary to earlier reports, neither nuclear aircraft nor nuclear
submarines will be part of the French fleet. The French fleet will
consists of an aircraft carrier, the Foch, two destroyers, and a support
ship.

According to sources at naval headquarters, the exercise will be the
first step towards building an Indo-French naval alliance for future
activities like peacekeeping, disaster management and operations against
maritime piracy.

A formation, led by the Foch, will attend the exercise in which the
Indian Navy's Western Naval Command will take part. The formation will
be under the command of Rear Admiral Alain Coldefy of the Foch.

The Foch is a conventional aircraft carrier, with a 27,307 tonne
displacement and runs on six boilers. It has a strength of 1,689
sailors, of which 672 maintain the ship's Etendard aircraft and Puma
helicopters. The ship will end its career after France's first nuclear
aircraft carrier, the Charles de Gaulle, becomes fully operational in
2001.

The Foch will be accompanied by the destroyers, the Duquesne and
Tourville. The latter destroyer is from the French Indian Ocean fleet,
the Al Indien. The support ship is the Joules T.

The Duquesne has a displacement of 5,090 tonnes and has on deck one
Marine Nationale helicopter. The destroyer is armed with Exocet
missiles.

The Tourville has a displacement of 4,580 tonnes and has Exocet missiles
and Lynx helicopters on board.

The Foch was supposed to arrive in the Indian Ocean last year, but the
Kosovo crisis forced the French navy to postpone its visit.

=46rom the Indian side, two ships from the Godavari class, one Rajput
class, and one SSK class submarine will take part in the exercise.

The exercise, which will be held more than a hundred miles from the
coast, will last a day and a half. After the exercise the French
formation will push southwards and will conduct an exercise with Sea
Harrier aircraft at Goa.

"This will be an eyeopener for both sides. For the first time both of us
will carry out advanced exercises," a senior official at naval HQ said.

Besides this naval exercise, the annual maritime interaction between the
Indian Navy and France's Al Indien fleet, which operates from the Red
Sea, will also be held in coming weeks. According to sources, on March
2, a formation from the Al Indien fleet will visit Vizag and interact
with the Eastern Naval Command. This is the first time a French naval
team will visit the Andhra Pradesh port.
________

[4.]

The Hindu
3 February 2000

[India] Show of strength by Navy, Army

By Atul Aneja

NEW DELHI, FEB. 2. In a major show of strength, over 40 Indian naval
ships, submarines and aircraft have begun manoeuvres in the Arabian sea,
while in the Rajasthan sector the Army has commenced a large exercise.

Code-named `Springex-2000', the annual naval exercise will also involve
a fairly large component of the Indian Air Force (IAF). These manoeuvres
will culminate in a tri-Service exercise in the Andamans where Army
troops, of around a brigade's strength, will be landed on the beach by
naval ships, possibly by the first week of April.

As the manoeuvres in the Arabian sea taper off, some of the Indian naval
ships will delink from Springex-2000 and hold an advanced joint exercise
with the French Navy for a day and a half. France, incidentally, will
become the first U.N. Security Council member to hold manoeuvres with
the Indian Navy after the Pokhran nuclear tests. In yet another
political signal by Paris that it wishes to actively engage India in all
fields, including defence, the French will field an aircraft carrier,
=46erdinand Foch, in the exercise for the first time.

Jules Verne, a logistics ship and the Duqesne, a destroyer, along with
an aerial component, will also participate in an exercise which will
focus on countering submarine attacks. The Indian ships participating in
these manoeuvres include a Godavari class frigate, a Kashin class
destroyer along with a submarine component. Briefing the press, the
Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Sushil Kumar, said one of the core
objectives of Springex-2000 was to test the Navy's new tactical
doctrines which have been fine-tuned to cater to the ongoing new
inductions of state-of-the-art weapons and ships. As part of national
policy, the Navy is committed to ``deterrence'', but its ``preventive
deterrence'' stance was based on the triad of maritime diplomacy, active
vigilance and a capability to muster force, when required, he said.

=46or the first time, Springex-2000 will simulate a seaward attack on land
by cruise missiles. The Assistant Chief of Naval Staff, Rear Admiral
S.C. Suresh Bangara, said India would induct the Russian Klub class
cruise missiles on the new Kilo class submarines which will be delivered
later this year. Cruise missiles will also board the three new Khrivak
class frigates which India is acquiring from Moscow.

The Delhi class ships, which include the recently inducted INS Mysore,
will also participate in this exercise. In the absence of an aircraft
carrier, the involvement of these ``capital ships'' will become vital
for the main burden of command and control on sea will now fall on them.

Springex-2000 will, for the first time, see the use of the SU-30
aircraft for long-range strikes by the Indian Air Force (IAF). The
Mig-29 air defence planes will escort the deep-strike Jaguars which will
engage targets on sea during these manoeuvres. Besides, the Navy will
deploy its aerial assets, including Sea harrier planes, the Tu-142M and
Il-38 for long-range surveillance as well as an Information Warfare
squadron of Dornier planes.

In a related development, the Army has begun a major exercise in the
deserts of Rajasthan in the general areas of Suratgarh and Rattangarh,
approximately 100 km from the International Border (IB). According to an
official statement , an Army division of around 10,000 troops along with
an armoured brigade and a component of the IAF will be put through this
exercise.
______

[4.]
(Source Missing)

Dhanush test-firing likely in March

By Atul Aneja

NEW DELHI, FEB. 2. India is likely to test Dhanush, naval variant of the
Prithvi missile, next month, sources here said. They pointed out that
the 250 km-range missile was expected to be test-fired for the first
time from an Indian naval ship to a target on land.

Analysts, however, expressed surprise that the Defence Research and
Development Organisation, which developed the weapon along with the
Navy, had chosen to mount the missile directly on a ship without testing
it first in the ground-to sea-mode.

Sources also pointed out that the missile's accuracy would be of crucial
significance. If it was not accurate enough, it would be useful only
when tipped with nuclear warheads. This, analysts say, could be
potentially destabilising as it could raise the level of military
tensions in the neighbourhood.

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'India Pak Arms Race & Militarisation Watch' (IPARMW)
is a joint initiative of South Asia Citizens Web and
South Asians Against Nukes
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