Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)
The News International (Pakistan)
May 18, 2000
US expert plays down future N-test by Pakistan
WASHINGTON: Pakistani press claims that Islamabad is about to carry out
its seventh nuclear test are not credible, says a leading US expert. Dr
George Perkovich, author of the recently published 'India's Nuclear
Bomb' says such claims are probably being made in response to an Indian
scientist's assertion that New Delhi should develop fourth generation
nuclear weapons and conduct more tests to perfect the hydrogen bomb.
Dr Perkovich was reacting to a report quoted from The Pakistan Observer
that Islamabad had made all preparations for a seventh nuclear test in
the Chaghai hills, following intelligence reports that "India is all set
for a hydrogen bomb explosion very soon".
The Pakistan Observer story said that Islamabad would sign the
Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) immediately after the test to
neutralise adverse world reactions. Quoting diplomatic sources in
Islamabad, the newspaper said spy satellites operating in the region had
picked up evidence showing both Indian and Pakistani preparations to
resume testing.
"This makes no sense from the Pakistan point of view, they will not go
first," Dr Perkovich told Deccan Herald. "I would be also very surprised
if India resumed testing now. When President Clinton was in India last
March, Prime Minister Vajpayee told him there would be no more tests.
What's the rationale for going back on that?"
The Pakistani report, Dr Perkovich speculates, is linked to recent
statements by former Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) chairman PK
Iyengar that India should develop fourth generation weapons, such as
neutron bombs, and carry out more hydrogen bomb tests. Dr Iyengar's
statement to this effect, followed by an article he recently published
in an Indian newspaper, had been noted and widely circulated among US
experts.
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