US think tank warns South Asia 'fundamentally unstable'

A United States-based think tank has reportedly warned that nuclear competition in South Asia is "dangerous" while adding that territorial disputes and cross-border terrorism can aggravate the situation further.

A study by the prestigious U.S. Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), titled "South Asia's Nuclear Powers," warned that "domestic pressures add to the growing list of concerns about the region," reported the Dawn. It examined regional conflicts and nuclear doctrines of three nuclear-capable countries in the region - China, India and Pakistan.

One of the experts mentioned in the study, Gregory Koblentz of George Mason University, Virginia, noted that South Asia is most at risk of a breakdown in strategic stability due to "an explosive mixture of unresolved territorial disputes, cross-border terrorism, and growing nuclear arsenals."

He warned that Pakistan was particularly vulnerable as it faced multiple challenges, including those from militant groups.

The study said that despite claims made by Pakistan that its nuclear facilities are secure, apprehensions are rife that a regional terrorist attack will spark violence, prompting nuclear exchange.

International experts also expressed concerns that if instability in the region grows then, Pakistan-based or affiliated militants may acquire nuclear weapons.

The study pointed out that there was no sign of slowing of nuclear modernization in China, India and Pakistan.

Another expert, Ashley J. Tellis of Carnegie Endowment, warned that Asia's reliance on nuclear weapons will increase in the future.

The study said that major nuclear powers have limited tools at their disposal to influence nuclear expansion in Asia as India and Pakistan are outside the NPT.

CFR's Daniel S. Markey contended that the nuclear competition in South Asia represented a "classic conundrum" of international relations with "enormously high stakes, conflicting and entrenched interests, and at least in the near term, few realistic avenues for mitigating threats.