New Delhi, Oct. 24: Amid global fears that Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal may fall into the hands of terrorists, the Army chief, Gen. V. K. Singh, that says concern remains over this aspect but he feels these weapons are secure.
“Probably Pakistan also has (such concerns) and they are taking extra measures....I don’t think, there is any reason to say things are not secure. Things are secure,” Gen. Singh said in an interview.
He, however, added that this will remain a concern given “the way internal dynamics (of Pakistan) are.”
Gen. Singh recently raised hackles in Pakistan which had criticised him for his comments that Pakistan and China are the “major irritants” and India was ready to fight a conventional warfare in a nuclear scenario.
Rejecting Pakistan’s contention that his recent comments were “jingoistic,” he said such views were not only his but of the entire world. He noted that both Pakistan and China were nuclear armed countries and as “armed forces, we should always keep this in mind that there is somebody who can use it.”
The Army chief also hit out at those clamouring for dilution of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA). He is of the view that the Act is being used as a “beating stick” by the separatists in Jammu and Kashmir. “We are unnecessarily playing into the hands of separatists,” he said.