Russia Especially Concerned About Threat of Nuclear War in Asia

Russian newspapers, like those in the West, are concerned about the ratcheting up of violence in Asia. They see the Russian – American nuclear armament race and potential outcome as a stalemate. Pakistan and India, however, play by different rules.

Front page news in Russia declares the concern that country has about the possibility of nuclear war between two powers that don’t play by the same rules as other nations have done. This is seen as having serious catastrophic consequences for the entire world, given the threats involved and the extreme political views held by certain factions, especially within Pakistan. The newspapers of Russia remind us of the 60 years of conflict that has existed between India and Pakistan. The game changed, however, in 1998 when both India and Pakistan flexed their nuclear muscle and each set off nuclear tests demonstrating their respective abilities to manufacture nuclear weapons. India already has enormous potential since it expanded its capabilities in 2001 given the fact that the country never signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The government of India believes it is entitled to have the same privileges as Russia, the USA, China, Great Britain and France with nuclear weapons. Here’s the terrible problem. It is recognized that Pakistan and India are enemies and have been so for decades. China and India have had border clashes that could easily manifest into war. Whereas Pakistan could attack India, it doesn’t have the capability of destroying most of India’s nuclear arms. Pakistan is smaller in size, and India has a greater nuclear capability. Add to that the Aghanistan War and the problems on the border with Pakistan. The chief, however, is China that has enormous capacity compared to either India or Pakistan; and if that sleeping giant enters the fray, the facts are this: war indeed will be hell, as newspapers in Russia detail. Many people hope, however Russia’s fears, that President Asif Ali Zardari has who has said that Pakistan doesn’t feel threatened by India and indeed believes it to be a good neighbor. When Zardari declared this, it was noted to be the first time a Pakistani leader had made such a statement. President Barack Obama has been telling Pakistan that it should not fear India, and this response shows at least evidence of that conversation. In spite of Zardari’s contentions the fact remains that Western Pakistan is a formidable area when it comes to terrorist attacks. The threat of Al Qaeda remains. Furthermore many Pakistanis believe India was somehow responsible for the attacks on Mumbai, one of its great cities, and trying to pin the blame elsewhere. This ongoing suspicion continues to fan flames of discontent in the region where there are many illiterate and unemployed people who have been receptive to messages that can create violence. India’s newspapers talk about these worries, even as Russian papers worry about how India would respond to Pakistani violence, even if it wasn’t initiated by the legitimate Pakistan government, and then what China might do. In the meantime the West watches as well, to what the players in the East might do. Is Russia right to fear India and Pakistan conflict or will they be the good neighbors Zardari contends? We might hope that Pakistan’s new President is right on this matter.