Panic in Pakistan over Patriot Missile System sale to India
'Panic in Pakistan over Patriot sale to India':
Washington, Feb 20 : There is near panic in the higher echelons of the Pakistan Army following reports that the US is to supply the advanced Patriot missiles to India, a US-based news website reported.
The Pakistan Army believes the supply of the Patriot advanced capability-2 anti-ballistic missile system, capable of shooting down any Pakistani nuclear missiles, will virtually end Islamabad's nuclear deterrence, South Asian Tribune said in a Karachi-datelined report.
It noted that a top-level team of US technical experts was expected in New Delhi this week to brief Indian defence experts on the missiles.
Strategists in the Pakistan Army's Strategic and Planning Division cannot believe that US President George W. Bush could be doing "such a devastating thing to Pakistan", though he calls President Pervez Musharraf his "closest ally and friend in the war against terror", the report said.
"If India gets the Patriot anti-missile defence system, where do we go, because it would be almost impossible to penetrate with the indigenous Ghauris and Hataf missiles that we have," it quoted one "worried analyst" as saying.
It noted that Pakistan defence managers had been claiming over the last few years that a level of deterrence had been achieved with the development of nuclear-capable long and short-range missiles.
It was this deterrence that prevented India and Pakistan from going to war during the military standoff in 2002, the report said.
The Pakistan Army's general headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi is depending wholly on the personal rapport and skills of Musharraf to persuade Bush not to create the huge arms imbalance in the subcontinent, the report said.
"If Musharraf fails, there would be a lot of angry and depressed faces in the GHQ and Musharraf will have to double his own personal security and cut down inter-action with many of his brothers in uniform. He will have to spend more time ensuring his survival," it quoted an analyst as saying.
The report said a four-member team, led by Edward Ross of the Defence Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA), would be in New Delhi Feb 20-24 to brief Indian officials about the Patriot system.
The Bush administration gave clearance for a classified technical presentation of the Patriot system as part of the Next Step in Strategic Partnership (NSSP) agreement signed between India and the US last year, including cooperation in missile defence.
The report said: "While the Indian defence establishment is keen to have a look at the PAC-2 system, it has its eyes on the future because this opens the way to PAC-3, the latest upgrade of the anti-missile system developed by US defence majors Raytheon and Lockheed Martin."
PAC-2 is a long-range, all altitude and all weather air defence system to counter tactical ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and advanced aircraft.
Patriots were first used by Israelis in the first Gulf War when Iraqi missiles fired at Israel were intercepted during flight and destroyed. Since then, much advanced versions have been developed.
Till date, Washington has shared this technology, updated in 1991, with key allies, including Israel, Japan, Germany, Saudi Arabia and Taiwan.
"Neither China nor Pakistan have this type of anti-ballistic missile capability and the geo-strategic location of Pakistani missiles makes the Patriots more effective as any Pakistani missile could be intercepted in the air while in Pakistani airspace or much before it could reach any major Indian city," the report said.
It said analysts were of the view that the US decision had a lot to do with the "intrinsic lack of trust in Gen. Musharraf and his generals, specially their double games and cover ups of (leading nuclear scientist) Dr A.Q. Khan's nuclear sales network".
"So while the official Pakistani media is spinning yarns about the latest CBMs (confidence building measures) with India and opening of a bus service to Srinagar, the GHQ strategists are in a state of semi-shock as all their levers vis-à-vis India have been neutralised and now Washington is willing to provide the Indians with the capacity to neutralise the nuclear deterrent as well."
Washington, Feb 20 : There is near panic in the higher echelons of the Pakistan Army following reports that the US is to supply the advanced Patriot missiles to India, a US-based news website reported.
The Pakistan Army believes the supply of the Patriot advanced capability-2 anti-ballistic missile system, capable of shooting down any Pakistani nuclear missiles, will virtually end Islamabad's nuclear deterrence, South Asian Tribune said in a Karachi-datelined report.
It noted that a top-level team of US technical experts was expected in New Delhi this week to brief Indian defence experts on the missiles.
Strategists in the Pakistan Army's Strategic and Planning Division cannot believe that US President George W. Bush could be doing "such a devastating thing to Pakistan", though he calls President Pervez Musharraf his "closest ally and friend in the war against terror", the report said.
"If India gets the Patriot anti-missile defence system, where do we go, because it would be almost impossible to penetrate with the indigenous Ghauris and Hataf missiles that we have," it quoted one "worried analyst" as saying.
It noted that Pakistan defence managers had been claiming over the last few years that a level of deterrence had been achieved with the development of nuclear-capable long and short-range missiles.
It was this deterrence that prevented India and Pakistan from going to war during the military standoff in 2002, the report said.
The Pakistan Army's general headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi is depending wholly on the personal rapport and skills of Musharraf to persuade Bush not to create the huge arms imbalance in the subcontinent, the report said.
"If Musharraf fails, there would be a lot of angry and depressed faces in the GHQ and Musharraf will have to double his own personal security and cut down inter-action with many of his brothers in uniform. He will have to spend more time ensuring his survival," it quoted an analyst as saying.
The report said a four-member team, led by Edward Ross of the Defence Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA), would be in New Delhi Feb 20-24 to brief Indian officials about the Patriot system.
The Bush administration gave clearance for a classified technical presentation of the Patriot system as part of the Next Step in Strategic Partnership (NSSP) agreement signed between India and the US last year, including cooperation in missile defence.
The report said: "While the Indian defence establishment is keen to have a look at the PAC-2 system, it has its eyes on the future because this opens the way to PAC-3, the latest upgrade of the anti-missile system developed by US defence majors Raytheon and Lockheed Martin."
PAC-2 is a long-range, all altitude and all weather air defence system to counter tactical ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and advanced aircraft.
Patriots were first used by Israelis in the first Gulf War when Iraqi missiles fired at Israel were intercepted during flight and destroyed. Since then, much advanced versions have been developed.
Till date, Washington has shared this technology, updated in 1991, with key allies, including Israel, Japan, Germany, Saudi Arabia and Taiwan.
"Neither China nor Pakistan have this type of anti-ballistic missile capability and the geo-strategic location of Pakistani missiles makes the Patriots more effective as any Pakistani missile could be intercepted in the air while in Pakistani airspace or much before it could reach any major Indian city," the report said.
It said analysts were of the view that the US decision had a lot to do with the "intrinsic lack of trust in Gen. Musharraf and his generals, specially their double games and cover ups of (leading nuclear scientist) Dr A.Q. Khan's nuclear sales network".
"So while the official Pakistani media is spinning yarns about the latest CBMs (confidence building measures) with India and opening of a bus service to Srinagar, the GHQ strategists are in a state of semi-shock as all their levers vis-à-vis India have been neutralised and now Washington is willing to provide the Indians with the capacity to neutralise the nuclear deterrent as well."
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