NEW DELHI, 8 January 2003 — Defense Minister George Fernandes warned yesterday that Pakistan would be wiped out if India responded in the event of a nuclear conflict, the Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency reported. "We will suffer a little but there will be no Pakistan when we respond," Fernandes told a gathering of business people in the southern city of Hyderabad.

"We can take a bomb or two or more... but when we respond there will be no Pakistan."

Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf said last month he had warned India "they should not expect a conventional war from Pakistan" if Indian troops entered Pakistan during last year’s tense 10-month military standoff. Musharraf later denied he was talking about nuclear weapons and said he was referring to the use of guerrilla warfare. Fernandes described Musharraf’s statement as "irresponsible."

"The Pakistani leadership should know about its strengths and vulnerabilities," he said. "Such talk will not help them or the world." New Delhi Sunday announced the establishment of a nuclear command and control system, headed by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee.

Fernandes said he saw no end to "cross-border terrorism" from Pakistan "no matter what kind of electronic devices or gadgets we use."

"Last year, the army gunned down 3,000 terrorists in Kashmir but infiltration continues," he said. "The army has been fighting terrorism from Day One and the number of men we have lost runs into four-figures."

Fernandes said terrorism remains out of control in Muslim-majority Kashmir because of the "jihadi dimension," blaming Muslim fundamentalists from Pakistan who use religion to motivate unemployed youth in the bitterly contested and divided Himalayan state.

In another report, it was learned that India had the nuclear delivery systems in place at the time of the Kargil conflict with Pakistan and could have retaliated in case of a first strike, authoritative sources have said.

"There was enough preparation. We had delivery systems in place," the sources affirmed. The sources, speaking three days after India announced that it had in place a Nuclear Command Authority (NCA) for the management of its weapons, said India’s transparency about its nuclear command and control structure was in sharp contrast to the opaqueness of the Pakistani nuclear establishment. It was also clarified that an alternative NCA was in existence "in more than one place" that could take control in case of exigencies and in case the NCA became a victim of the enemy’s first strike. The sources refused to elaborate on its number or location, but described the alternative NCA as the best guarantee against an enemy nuclear attack.

"If Pakistan is aware of an alternative NCA, it would think a hundred times before doing anything," the sources said, clarifying that India’s nuclear doctrine was underpinned on "nuclear retaliation to a first strike" that would be "massive and designed to inflict unacceptable damage."

The sources clarified that India, which went nuclear in May 1998 much to the surprise and shock of the rest of the world, sought to project itself as a responsible nuclear power, one that was not trigger-happy and did not go about making irresponsible threats or indulge in muscle-flexing. The reference was to Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf who was quoted as having said that Islamabad could have resorted to "unconventional" war during Kargil, a euphemism for nuclear weapons, had India crossed the Line of Control in Kashmir.

The sources, while declining to talk about the number of warheads India possessed, were emphatic that India had in place "credible" delivery systems for its weapons.

There have been reports that while land delivery systems were in place in the shape of ballistic missiles like "Agni" — the next test-firing of the long-range missile is slated for this week — it would take some years to put in place simultaneous air- and sea-based delivery systems.

Asked specifically if India had nuclear capable bombers, the sources said it would not be prudent to speculate on such operational issues. The sources, while stressing on the civilian control of the Authority, would not speculate either on the succession issue if the apex authority or authorities were to be disabled but said all these alternatives had been clearly chalked out and there were no ambiguities. (AFP/IANS)