Daily Times Monitor

LAHORE: Nuclear bombs have neither proved to be a deterrence nor brought any economic benefits for any country in the world, defence analyst Dr Farrukh Saleem said on Sunday.
Speaking on the programme “Najam Sethi Special” on Dunya News, Dr Saleem said the atomic bomb had not served the purpose of deterrence for any country. The US lost the war in the Vietnam while having atom bombs, he said, while Russia lost in Afghanistan. Israel was attacked by Syria despite having an atom bomb while Pakistan attacked the nuclear India in Kargil. He said Pakistan’s safety did not depend on the nuclear capability.
Asked if India had not attacked Pakistan in 2002 and 2009 because of Pakistan’s nuclear bombs, the analyst said it was a misperception.
About spending on the nuclear programme, he said that according to Manhattan Project Document, a country has to spend around $24 billion in the initial phase from making of a bomb and exploding it. In the second phase of making mechanism of targeting of a bomb and other additional operations around $70 billion to $100 billion are spent.
Human Rights Commission of Pakistan Director IA Rehman said nuclear programme was one of the reasons behind the internal threats facing Pakistan. He said because of the hefty spending on its defence Pakistan has not been able to spend more on development projects, especially for the improvement of the standard of living of the people living in the Tribal Areas. Education, health and infrastructure needed more money, which could not be spent because of a large defence budget, he said.