Even as the Obama administration has started pushing for the ambitious goal of complete elimination of nuclear weapons, United States' Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday said the US would maintain its nuclear deterrence.
With this new induction, the country has the capability to launch nukes from land, air and sea.
The reported affirmative reply of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Fareed Zakaria's question whether India would be willing to sign the NPT (Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty) as a nuclear weapon state (NWS) has evoked some debate amongst the Indian security analyst community about the wisdom of such a move.
The bill clearly states what is required of India.
Security experts help Vicky Nanjappa debunk some of the nuclear fantasies woven by Indian Mujahideen chief Yasin Bhatkal
Pakistan-based Al Qaeda's senior leadership remained committed to acquiring weapons of mass destruction including nuclear weapons, a top Obama administration official said.
Pakistan has raised a 20,000 strong force to provide foolproof security to its nuclear weapons and strategic assets, the military said in Islamabad on Thursday.
The two countries, which possess nuclear weapons, are likely to discuss measures to boost confidence in each other and prevent any misunderstanding that may spark off a nuclear misadventure between them. Every year, both countries also exchange lists of nuclear installations in either country.
"This administration will work toward a world without nuclear weapons and we will continue to maintain a safe, secure, and effective deterrent as we proceed toward that goal," Ellen Tauscher, Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security, said.
'It was India's good fortune to have a Vajpayee lead the government at this crucial moment in history.' 'By taking the N-decision he saved future generations of Indians from being 'Kosovoed' or 'Iraqed',' says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Search giant Google has released satellite images of facilities at two Iranian cities that the United Nations claims may be used to develop nuclear weapons.
"Situation of weaponisation and associated dangers have not changed much from the cold war days," John Hallam, a veteran anti-nuclear weapon campaigner and Friends of Earth, Australia member said.
A top United States military official on Friday said that the Al-Qaeda and the Taliban leadership are trying to gain access to nuclear weapons.
'It couldn't have been otherwise. Libya lacked a sophisticated scientific infrastructure,' an Israeli intelligence source said.
India was forced to go nuclear and develop ballistic missiles to strike a balance of power in the region as "big nations" around the country were armed with atomic weapons, former President A P J Abdul Kalam said on Thursday.
The coup attempt has weakened Putin's position and in desperation he may well sanction the use of nukes, points out Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
China has secretly entered into an agreement with Pakistan to construct a third nuclear reactor at Chashma in Punjab province that the Obama administration says will violate Beijing's promises under an international anti-nuclear weapons accord, a media report said.
Iran could have a nuclear bomb by 2010, a leading international think-tank has warned. According to the International Institute for Strategic Studies, Iran will amass enough low-enriched uranium this year which could put it on course to build a nuke weapon by the end of the next year, The Daily Telegraph reported.
China, one of the five recognised nuclear powers, on Tuesday said it has never engaged in proliferation, days after Pakistan's disgraced scientist A Q Khan claimed his country had helped it in enrichment technology in return for atomic bomb blue-prints.
This is in contrast to India, where the control is with the civilian authority headed by prime minister.
Meanwhile, South Korea will convene an emergency meeting of top officials after the North Korean threat, news agencies reported.
He was also opposed to displacement of communities as a whole and their replacement by others and sought to differentiate between Zionism and Jews.
Ahead of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's visit to United States in October, the United States is negotiating a pact on the new limits on Pakistan's nuclear weapons and delivery systems, a deal which might lead to an agreement that is similar to the Indo-US civil nuclear deal, according to a media report.
China is expanding its nuclear force and is likely to have a stockpile of about 1,500 warheads by 2035, up from the current estimated number of 400, the Pentagon has said in a report that notes that Beijing aims to expand its national power through both domestic and foreign policy initiatives.
India should not give into the pressure from some of its nuclear scientists to carry out an atomic test, and if it does it would be a huge setback to its relations with the US and for the battle against terrorists, The New York Times said on Monday.
Pakistan, with some help from China, will demand its share in the changing nuclear order.
United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday asked Pakistan to face up to the gravity of threat posed by nuclear weapon-armed terrorist groups in its midst, as it urged the country to join the nuclear non-proliferation process."The Al Qaeda and their extremist allies are always on the hunt for nuclear material and it doesn't take a lot to create a very damaging explosion with extraordinary political ramifications.
According to the report, Russia tops the table with 6,375 warheads, followed by the United States with 5,800, and the United Kingdom with 215 warheads.
Dhanteras, the prime minister said, has become even more special.
Strategic guru K Subrahmanyam, who passed into the ages recently, discusses the history of India's nuclear weapon programme in a fascinating interview.
Predicting the "defeat" of Pakistani military in its fight against the Taliban in North West Frontier Province, a top Al-Qaeda commander on Monday warned that if his group takes over Islamabad's nuclear weapons, it will "use them" against the United States.
What does the Korean nuke test mean to India, Pakistan, the Korean peninsula and the world? Tell us!
Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh said Monday that India has unambiguously said it's against Iran developing or acquiring nuclear weapons and that if the United Nations Security Council slaps sanctions against Tehran, it would support such action, but hoped United States President Obama's outreach to Iran on this issue would yield a compromise that doesn't necessitate such an outcome.
However, Bush will not want to be seen as leaving the White House having allowed Iran to go nuclear.
Rejecting Islamabad's claim that its arrangements were best in the world, director of Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Graham Allison, said 'the design of Pakistan's nuclear control system creates a risk of inside theft.'
India and the US signed a historic agreement to cooperate in civil nuclear energy sector in October 2008.
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