Dr. Walter Ladwig, Senior lecturer of International Relations at King’s College and security expert, on Friday said that India was successful in striking a much wider range of targets and executing more successful missions than Pakistan.
“I think India was successful in striking a much wider range of targets and executing more successful missions than the Pakistan side was which sort of explains why there’s so much more information, images and so forth in the open domain that would appear to corroborate the majority of the Indians claims versus Pakistanis,” said Dr. Ladwig when asked that India has presented high-resolution evidence to support its claims in this conflict, while Pakistan’s evidence appears more limited and how he assesses this asymmetry in evidence presentation.
“When it comes to India, we have successive US administrations going all the way back to George W. Bush that have been seeking to cultivate India as an important partner in the Indo-Pacific, in part as a counterweight to China… It’s not in the American interest for there to be a conflict between India and Pakistan insofar as that distracts india’s attention away from bigger picture issues in Asia. India’s growth is soaring, growing at an impressive just under seven per cent a year, but needs to grow faster to meet all of the development targets. All of those things will be put at risk by a protracted conflict or stalemate with Pakistan, so that’s clearly not in America’s interest,” Dr. Ladwig said.
‘Pakistan’s ability to handle nuclear weapons is questionable’
Military and strategic analyst Tom Cooper has raised serious concerns about the security of Pakistan’s nuclear infrastructure, suggesting that recent developments reinforce long-standing doubts about the country’s ability to manage its arsenal. His remarks come amid speculation following India’s Operation Sindoor and reports of strikes near suspected Pakistani nuclear facilities.
‘India hit two entrances to one of Pakistan’s underground facilities’
“India has a perfect picture of what is going on there. The fighting ended actually after India hit two entrances to one of Pakistan’s underground facilities, suspected or assumed to be a nuclear facility,” said Cooper, responding to questions about whether nuclear sites had been damaged, despite Indian officials denying such targets were struck.
‘Situation has not improved’
He pointed to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s recent comments questioning Pakistan’s nuclear command and safety protocols. “He (Defence Minister Rajnath Singh) now says that Pakistan’s ability to handle nuclear weapons is questionable. This is not new. We have heard such concerns issued even by nuclear scientists, and not just a few of them, but 20 or even more. It is just a confirmation that the situation has not improved in this regard, on one side,” Cooper said.
India’s intelligence continueS to monitor Pak military movements
He added that India’s intelligence and strategic capabilities continue to monitor Pakistani military movements closely. “It is also a confirmation for the dominance or freedom of operation of Indian armed forces well inside Pakistan,” he stated.
