ISLAMABAD, 11 April — An official spokesman has strongly refuted remarks attributed to President Pervez Musharraf by Benazir Bhutto on the use of nuclear weapons while clarifying that the president had said that “for us, the use of nuclear weapons is possible only as a last resort if all of Pakistan were threatened.” The spokesman was responding to comments made by PPP leader Ms. Benazir Bhutto on the contents of a recent interview of Musharraf in the German magazine Der Spiegel.
The spokesman added, Benazir’s comments, based on Indian media reports, were not surprising as she is in the habit of taking her cue from sources hostile to Pakistan. The fact that she did not even bother to refer to the original text of the interview published in Der Spiegel and hastened to issue a statement speaks much of her irresponsible attitude to sensitive national security issues, he said.
The president has been repeatedly emphasizing both to the media and the international leadership the fact that Pakistan was a responsible state and its nuclear capabilities were of deterrent nature, the spokesman said. He also emphasized that Pakistan acquired nuclear capability only in response to the India going nuclear.
The spokesman quoted from the German magazine to clarify that the president had said that “Pakistan acts responsibly and I am optimistic and confident that we can also defend ourselves conventionally, even though the Indians in their megalomania are buying the most modern weapons. Only if all of Pakistan were threatened to disappear from the map, then pressure of our people to take this option would be too great. Then it will be valid.”
The spokesman also dismissed her assertions that the president had taken a strong position on the nuclear issue in view of the forthcoming referendum. He said that the president’s principled stand on the nuclear issue has been consistent with Pakistan’s declared policy on the subject and it was regrettable that a person who has served as the prime minister of the country twice should have such a short memory on crucial and sensitive national security issues.
If her comments and statements were directed at the Western audience, she has failed miserably as they are now well aware of her antics and her constant switches, said the spokesman, adding if it was intended to please the Indians, then she may have achieved some success but only at the cost of Pakistan’s strategic interests.
