Reports from Pakistan since the April 6 test of its Ghauri Medium-Range Ballistic Missile (MRBM) suggest that Pakistan has other ballistic missiles under development and is planning to accelerate its missile development programme. The latest comments, made by Pakistani President Mohammad Rafiq Tarar on April 18, suggested that Pakistan was considering developing three further missiles. "Ghauri, Ghaznavi, Babri and Abdali missiles should be developed to make the defence of Pakistan impregnable and (you should) ignore any amount of pressure (against this)," Tarar said in a speech reported by the official APP news agency. While the Ghauri has a range of some 1,500 km (930 miles), Pakistani spokesmen have suggested that the Ghaznavi would have a range of approximately 2,000 km (1,240 miles). However no information has been made available to date on the Babri or Abdali missiles referred to by President Tarar. In an attempt to justify Pakistan's development of the Ghauri, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif told visiting US envoy Bill Richardson on April 17 that India's "massive nuclear and ballistic missile arsenal" had 'forced' Pakistan to develop its own missiles. India's operational ballistic missile arsenal currently consists of less than a dozen 150 km-range Prithvi Short-Range Ballistic Missiles (SRBM), although a total of some 75 missiles have been ordered by the Indian Army from Bharat Dynamics in Hyderabad. A further 25 Prithvi SS-250s with a range of 250 km have reportedly been ordered by the Indian Air Force. The range of both variants of the Prithvi clearly makes them a 'Pakistan-specific' weapon. India's 2,500 km-range Agni Intermediate-Range Ballistic Missile (IRBM), tested three times since May, 1989, has far too long a range to be fired at Pakistan. Its most obvious target would be China, but it could also target Russia, Saudia Arabia, Iran or even the US base at Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean. If India does decide to push ahead and deploying Agni operationally, it is likely to be in response to a perceived requirement for a nuclear-armed deterrent against China. (An analysis of India's missile programmes is available in its National Briefing.) Increasing Tension Tension between India and Pakistan was sure to rise following the election of India's new BJP-led government in March. The BJP has long advocated that India adopt a more hawkish defence posture; earlier this month, it outlined an defence agenda which included a pledge to "induct" nuclear weapons - although it explicitly failed to provide a time frame for such a move, giving the new government room for manoeuvre. (see Will India 'Go Nuclear' Under a BJP Government?) Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee also stressed that "we are keeping the option open and if need be, that option will be exercised". [Image] This policy is broadly in line with pledges made by the BJP in its election manifesto published earlier this year, in which the BJP said that it would: Re-evaluate the country's nuclear policy and exercise the option to induct nuclear weapons; [and] Expedite the development of the Agni series of ballistic missiles with a view to increasing their range and accuracy. Behind such rhetoric, however, the BJP's statements have done little more than restate India's long-standing policy of ambiguity - that it retains the option to develop nucelar weapons and longer-range missiles if 'the strategic environment' so dictates. But these sentiments were sufficicent for Pakistan's Defence Committee of the Cabinet (DCC) to agree on April 16 that the nation's ballistic missile programme should be accelerated. According to the APP news agency, the high-level meeting, chaired by Nawaz Sharif, was attended by Pakistan's ministers for finance and foreign affairs, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff committee, the three services chiefs, special assistant to the prime minister and the heads of the intelligence agencies. Pakistan's Nuclear Option Further fuel was added to the controversy by Pakistani nuclear sceintist Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan, widely regarded as the father of the country's missile and nuclear programmes. Speaking to the official APP news agency on April 15, Khan said that the Ghauri's range could be increased still further. "We have the capability to further increase the range of Ghauri missile," he said. "We have got the basic principle (of missile development), and we can now further increase its range." Dr Khan added that he believed that there was now no 'missile gap' between India and Pakistan now. Asked specifically if Pakistan was ahead of India in missile technology, he said both the countries were moving in parallel. Khan also said that pressure on Islamabad to sign the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty meant that the international community already viewed Pakistan as a nuclear power, a perception he did nothing to diminish. Indeed asked what it would take for Pakistan to carry out a nuclear test, Khan merely said "Seek permission from the government. We are ready for it."
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