Hillary: India, Pakistan have upset nuclear deterrent balance [View All]

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Front Page article from The Hindu:

http://www.hindu.com/2010/04/11/stories/2010041158801200.htm

Front Page

Hillary: India, Pakistan have upset nuclear deterrent balance

Narayan Lakshman

‘U.S. working with both countries to ensure that their stockpiles are safeguarded'

The risk of a nuclear attack has increased

U.S. to boost funding for maintaining weapons stockpile

WASHINGTON DC: India and Pakistan have pursued nuclear weapons “in a way that has upset the balance of nuclear deterrent,” Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Friday.

That was why the United States was working with both countries “very hard to try to make sure that their nuclear stockpiles are well tended to, and that they participate with us in trying to limit the number of nuclear weapons,” she said.

Speaking at at the University of Louisville, Kentucky, Ms. Clinton argued that the nature of the nuclear threat had changed. “As President Obama has said, the risk of a nuclear attack has actually increased. And the potential consequences of mishandling this challenge are deadly.” Nuclear terrorism presented a different challenge, but the consequences would still be devastating, she said.

Doomsday scenario

Highlighting the growing threat of nuclear terrorism and nuclear proliferation a few days ahead of the 47-nation Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, Ms. Clinton illustrated what a doomsday scenario would look like, given these risks. “A 10-kiloton nuclear bomb detonated in Times Square in New York City could kill a million people. Many more would suffer from the haemorrhaging and weakness that comes from radiation sickness.”

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Full text of her speech at http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2010/04/139958.htm