Naval chief keeps up India’s nuclear saber rattling

By Nirmala George

Associated Press

NEW DELHI, India – India kept up the tough talk Wednesday on its war preparedness and nuclear capability, even as Secretary of State Colin Powell arrived in neighboring Pakistan on a mission to cool off tensions in South Asia.

The nuclear-armed armies of India and Pakistan have been on high alert since last month, when India accused its longtime South Asian rival of sponsoring a terrorist attack on its Parliament. Almost daily exchanges of gunfire have erupted along the border where the South Asian nations have massed hundreds of thousands of troops.

In response to the war threat, Pakistan’s president last weekend ordered a crackdown on anti-India extremists. The Interior Ministry said Wednesday that 1,957 extremists were in custody and more arrests were expected.

The top elected official in the Indian-held part of Kashmir credited the crackdown with what he said was a “noticeable” decline in extremist attacks in the disputed region, the heart of the animosity between the two countries. India says the extremists are operating out of the Pakistan portion of Kashmir.

“I am told that border firings have also reduced,” said Farooq Abdullah, the chief minister of India’s Jammu-Kashmir state. “This is a positive sign. However, it will be too early to judge anything as our past experiences with Pakistan have not been very good.”

In New Delhi, India’s newly appointed naval chief, Adm. Madhvendra Singh, began a news conference by saying he would neither confirm nor deny the existence of nuclear weapons on Indian naval vessels. He went on to say the country had an assured second-strike capability and that the safest bet for such a scenario by any country would be a nuclear-armed submarine.

India has repeatedly stated that it would never strike first with its nuclear weapons, but only use them defensively.

“In most (nuclear-armed) countries the most powerful part of the triad is in the navy, hidden and moving under water,” Singh said.

While officials routinely refer to India’s nuclear capability, they are not forthcoming on the delivery systems. The Indian navy has about 18 submarines, some of which are armed with Russian-made Klub missiles, which are capable of delivering a nuclear missile.

Singh said that all three wings of the armed forces – army, navy and air force – were in full combat readiness “for any eventuality,” and that Indian warships were “fully mobilized” and prepared for any conflict.

Washington has pressed both countries to pull back from their worst standoff since their last war in 1971.

Powell has been in almost constant telephone contact with the two sides during the latest crisis. Powell said the good relations the United States has with India and Pakistan has been helpful in preventing the conflict from getting out of control.

En route to South Asia, Powell said Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf’s conciliatory speech Saturday, and the Indian response, “certainly showed that this rush toward conflict, I think, has been slowed quite a bit.”

Powell was to spend a day in Islamabad before leaving for New Delhi on Thursday.