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Journalism of Courage
In sharp contrast to the Indian nuclear command control system which rests with the civilian authority headed by the Prime Minister, Pakistan’s nuclear command structure has been placed under the control of military dominated National Command Authority (NCA) headed by President Pervez Musharraf.
The NCA, which also includes Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, is authorised to take a ‘‘unanimous decision’’ for using nuclear weapons unlike a civilian structure worked out by India.
The decision to use nuclear weapons, however, does not rest with Musharraf or any individual but the NCA should take a unanimous decision, local daily Dawn said in a report on the country’s secretive nuclear command structure.
The newspaper said while the NCA was headed by Musharraf, Jamali was made a member of it. It is still not clear whether the present military dominated nuclear command structure was a permanent feature for despite the dominant role being played by Musharraf in the present power structure, Pakistan continued to be a parliamentary democracy.
The special presentation for Jamali was arranged just a day after India announced its nuclear command structure which would be headed by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Jamali after attending the briefing said Pakistan would continue to develop nuclear weapons as a deterrence. ‘‘The NCA has ensured that while our nuclear assets and strategic forces were completely safe and secure, they continue to develop as per our minimum deterrence needs’’, an official press release quoted him as saying last night.
