SHAFAQNA PAKISTAN (Shia News Agency)
SriLankan President is on visit to Pakistan and during this visit Sri Lanka and Pakistan signed six agreements, including one on atomic energy, as the strategically important island looks to build its first nuclear plant. Sri Lanka’s new president Maithripala Sirisena swept to power in January, ending a decade of rule by Mahinda Rajapakse. With the Srilankan attentions to attain nuclear technology, it would kick off nuclear race among other small countries as well. The urge to acquire nuclear technology shows that small countries in the region want to compete the nuke containing countries India and Pakistan as both the rivals exert tremendous pressure on these countries for their interests. Similarly last week, Pakistan’s prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, announced that he had approved a new deal to purchase eight diesel-electric submarines from China, which could be equipped with nuclear missiles, for an estimated $5 billion. Last month, Pakistan test-fired a ballistic missile that appears capable of carrying a nuclear warhead to any part of India. And a senior adviser, Khalid Ahmed Kidwai, reaffirmed Pakistan’s determination to continue developing short-range tactical nuclear weapons whose only purpose is use on the battlefield in a war against India.
The nuclear and conventional arm race between both the countries have also sensitizing other South Asian countries to acquire power, which would subsequently made South Asian security fragile and region would turn into ground where different countries would be competing for nukes and conventional arms. Now it is time for major powers to focus on South Asia and should expedite efforts to de-denuclearize South Asia which poses threat to entire world.
pakistan.shafaqna.com
