As Chief Guest and President of the 1st Session on FMCT Problems and Prospects
Interaction Report
Mushahid Hussain Syed in his opening remarks said that the issue of FMCT is very important basically the seminar is taking place in the environment of changes
1. Rethinking between Pakistan and India relations
2. Military withdrawal of NATO and America from Afghanistan
3. Strategic agreement between Afghanistan and USA beyond 2014, President Obama signed an Agreement just two days ago
4. Changes are taking place in broader region that of Arab spring; new actors are emerging like Turkey and Egypt. And then of course North Korean Ambassador is here, you are very welcome Ambassador. Recently you have the celebration of your king. This is also season missile testing but yours one was not missile testing but some thing has been fired in the air. Of course, Pakistan and India have traditional approach of tit for tat. They do something we do in reply of that If we do something India also do some thing. India and Pakistan follow this pattern predictably and successfully but without creating large hick ups. This shows that we have learned to live together even in the field in the NUCLEAR MISSILE and learned to live with respective stress. This also shows that relationship between the two countries more normal, more balanced and more realistic. We have reached some kind of maturity in the region even in the field of weapons of mass destruction.
Mushahid Hussain Sayed, was very active in keeping the participants involved by having an interactive way to keep the decorum of the seminar. In his presidential remarks Senator Mushhid Hussain Sayed said Pakistan does not want an arm race in the region and its nuclear program is only to ensure security and maintain a strategic balance in the region. Pakistan has very effective, strong and transparent security and safety mechanism in place which has ensured the safety of nuclear program.
He has also said that Pakistan’s bomb is not an Islamic bomb as west propagates but it is for our security; otherwise there will be Christian, Jews and vegetarian bombs. He narrated a dialogue between him and retired British General at BBC when he saw me said Oh! You Pakistani you have an Islamic bomb. I replied that “it surprised me that bomb has a religion, if it is so then India has the vegetarian bomb.” He said further that American intellectual Stephen Cohen has written in his book that there was a plan in 1987 that Indian brass task exercise was to transform as an operational exercise to attack Pakistan but then it was stopped due to international pressure.
The key to the peace is the dialogue and agreement between Pakistan and India on Nuclear and Kashmir. If we don’t resolve Kashmir issue and you can talk of any issue, trade or anything but it will not work. We have to go on the path of European Union, the countries had the differences on land, resources and others but they have resolved all the issues very successfully. Now after 1998, Pakistan and India cannot go to war both being the nuclear powers. I can give the example of US defense Secretary Donald Ramsfield, when he was asked to attack North Korea, a country of 34 Million people. He was honest and said we can’t attack North Korea as it has nuclear bomb. Pakistan’s nuclear program is India specific as Indian traditional arms are Pakistan specific.
So far our nuclear program is concerned we have our security reasons but why France and Britain don’t denuclearized themselves. They don’t have the threat but they are ready even to talk on this issue, in spite of the fact they have the protection of USA and NATO. We don’t have such protection; even if we had we were not going to abandon our nuclear program. So far strategic dialogue was concern with America, India brought forward Mr. Jaswant Singh and Pakistan kept at low level. Our Foreign secretary was negotiating. This made the difference that India had strategic partnership with India and we failed to get one.