ISLAMABAD: Brookings, a US think-tank said Pakistan was in a position to repel militants attempt to take control of its nuclear weapons.
The Brookings report — “The Agonising Problem of Pakistan’s Nukes” — said the Taliban victory in Afghanistan has emboldened militants in Pakistan, creating fears of a resurgence of militancy in the country.
“The fear now includes the possibility that jihadis in Pakistan, freshly inspired by the Taliban victory in Afghanistan, might try to seize power at home,” the report claims.
“Trying, of course, is not the same as succeeding. If history is a reliable guide, Pakistan’s professional military would almost certainly respond, and in time probably succeed,” the author, Marvin Kalb, adds.
On Friday the leaders of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, a banned militant outfit, has announced ceasefire which was a good development for Prime Minister Imran Khan’s initiative of TTP’s disarmament.
The US think-tank report, nevertheless, warns that even a failed attempt could reopen “the floodgates of a new round of domestic warfare between the government and extremist gangs.”
The Brookings report warns that a resurgent insurgency would “leave Pakistan again shaken by political and economic uncertainty.”
The report then turns to another possibility that Pakistan has often warned against — instability in South Asia increases the possibility of a nuclear conflict in the region. Pakistan uses this argument to strengthen its demand for international arbitration to settle the Kashmir and other disputes in India.
The Brookings report does not mention the Kashmir dispute but it acknowledges that “when Pakistan is shaken, so too is India, its less than neighbourly rival and nuclear competitor.”
Going back to the Taliban victory in Afghanistan, the report claims that the development has increased the possibility of a “terrorist regime” in Pakistan “from a fear into a strategic challenge that no American president can afford to ignore.”
The report, however, notes that Pakistan’s political and military leaders have assured a succession of “anxious (American) presidents” that this cannot happen as the country is strong enough to fight back the militants.
The report also notes that Pakistan’s security establishment has always closely watched various terrorist groups operating in the country.
