Army ready to face N-strike

The Indian Army has trained itself to cope with a tactical nuclear strike in the battlefield. Deputy Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-General Raj Kadyan, said on Tuesday that such an eventuality had been factored into training for war.

Asked to comment on reports that Pakistan has acquired tactical nuclear weapons, Lt.-General Kadyan said, “There’s nothing like a tactical nuclear weapon. But yes, nuclear weapons can be used for tactical purposes.” The general indicated that the Army trains for such eventualities.

Lt. General Kadyan, who is responsible for the training of the Army, made these comments here after seeing off an Indian Army battalion headed for a UN peacekeeping mission in Ethiopia-Eritrea.

India has maintained that even a tactical nuclear strike on its forces will be treated as a nuclear first strike, and shall invite massive retaliation.

Recent reports have suggested that Pakistan has acquired miniaturised nuclear devices, capable of being fired even from a howitzer, for targeting Indian combat formations in order to force ang end to a conventional war.

It has been argued that a tactical strike would circumvent retaliation from India, since such an attack on an advancing tank regiment or a infantry battalion (in contrast to a strategic strike killing lakhs), "would not be provocation enough for all-out retaliation".

Earlier, in a pep talk to personnel of 27 Rajput Regiment headed for the UN Mission in Ethiopia-Eritrea (UNMEE), the Deputy Chief said that because of its high professional standards and discipline, the Indian Army was much sought-after in UN peacekeeping operations.

Pervez assailed

Meanwhile, India on Tuesday rejected Pervez Musharraf's remarks that the Kashmir problem is “another Palestine in the making”. “We have absolutely rejected this. The two situations are worlds apart,” MEA spokesperson Nirupama Rao said.

New Delhi, June 25, 2002 (HT)