‘Pakistan to restore strategic balance with India’

The Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee of the Pakistan army, General Zubair Hayat, has said that credibility of the country’s deterrence capability would be ensured and strategic balance with India would be restored.

“We have, and we will continue to provide, necessary response to ensure that strategic balance is maintained and Pakistan’s deterrence remains credible. Let there be no doubt on that account,” Hayat said at the ceremony to launch the book Shaking Hands with Clenched Fists at the Centre for International Strategic Studies (CISS).

The book has been authored by Dr Asma Shakir Khawaja of the National Defence University.

Hayat’s statement came against the backdrop of first “deterrence” patrol by Indian nuclear submarine INS Arihant, and the Indian deal for the acquisition of S-400 missile systems from Russia.

He said that the “deterrence patrol” showed New Delhi’s determination “to maintain its long-standing tradition of introducing new instruments of instability, with which it can attempt eroding deterrence stability in the region”.

Hayat saw the “deterrence patrol” and the dropping of “minimum” from India’s concept of credible deterrence as Indian attempts at dramatically altering the strategic land-scape.

However, he said, Pakistan is unfazed by these developments. “This is neither surprising for us nor it rattles us.”

Elaborating on the Pakistani response to the developments, he said that it would be answered through restraint and responsibility for peace and stability in the region.

At the book launch, Hayat also spoke about the world powers helping India with its unprecedented military build-up, granting it exceptional access to high technology.

He stressed that these actions are also undermining regional stability.

Hayat said that Pakistan remains committed to peace and conflict resolution with its neighbour, although such offers had been spurned in the past.

“We are willing to herald a new era of regional peace, progress, and prosperity that can help more than 1.5bn South Asian people ‘recover’ from their tragic and tumultuous legacy of ‘surviving from crisis to crisis’ and ‘conflict to conflict’,” the top army official said, adding that he hopes India would meet Pakistan at least half way.

“This vision of a peaceful, stable, prosperous and secure South Asia cannot be unilaterally achieved. This would require reciprocity of political intent, revival of diplomacy and composite dialogue process, and responsible and restrained strategic behaviour,” he said.

Hayat said that Pakistan’s proposal of a Strategic Restraint Regime is still awaiting a positive response from India.