The dust is settling in Pakistan. But now there appears a nuclear winter.
I’m sure you’ve seen the online chatter and unconfirmed strikes, rumors of radiation leaks, mysterious Egyptian flights, and suspicious earthquakes. It’s got all the makings of a dramatic war story. But what is the truth here? Did India actually hit a Pakistani nuclear site?
We’ll try to answer that question tonight. The speculation, we can tell you, began after a strike on May 10th. The target is believed to be Kirana Hill. This is located near Sargodha. Sargodha is a city in Pakistan’s Punjab province. Now reports say that these hills, the Kirana Hill, hold Pakistani nuclear weapons. We’ve got some videos from that area. You can clearly hear people say that Kirana has been hit. Take a look at this one. Oh God, oh God, oh God. But if India had struck a Pakistani nuclear site, specifically the entrance to the site, the timing is certainly suspect. Within hours of this attack, Pakistan should have proceeded.
The Americans also spoke about some alarming intel that they had received. Now all of this added fuel to the fire. Some people were convinced that India had hit Kirana Hill. The Indian military was asked about this. The answer was, as it sounds, they didn’t know. Thank you for this….telling us that Kiran Ahil houses some nuclear installations. We did not know about it, okay?
And, uh, have you not heard Kiran Ahil? Whatever he said? I did not meet, uh, in my meeting yesterday. He said it as clearly as possible, yet the rumors did not end. Yesterday, the issue reached the U.S. State Department.
They were asked a yes or no question. Has a U.S. team gone to Pakistan over nuclear radiation fears?
Has America sent a team to check nuclear radiation in Pakistan? That was the question. Listen to the answer. Has the U.S. sent a team to, you know, to Islamabad or Pakistan following the reports that they have a leak of nuclear radiation in some particular Pakistani sites?
I have nothing to tell you on that. They did not confirm or reject it. Now, add to that a mysterious Egyptian plane. It landed at a small airport north of Sanghuta, and this happened recently. Reports say it was carrying boron to Pakistan. Now, boron is a terrible element. It is often used to suppress nuclear reactions. So the speculation is that Pakistan is using boron to contain the fallout.
Now, just to be clear, there is no official word on such a disaster, neither from India nor from Pakistan. Nonetheless, it’s a story worth looking at, because India has created a new doctrine against Pakistan, and in this doctrine, nuclear blackmail will not be accepted. Prime Minister Modi himself has made that clear. Modi! Nuclear!Most India and Pakistan have around 117 nuclear warheads each. India has a no-first-use policy, meaning we will only use nukes in response to a nuclear attack.
We will not be the first ones to use or to fire a nuke. But Pakistan has a different policy. They have talked about using any weapon to defend themselves. Perhaps even nuclear weapons.
They do not rule it out. Until now, Pakistan has hid behind its nuclear shield. But as Prime Minister Modi said, it won’t work anymore. Nuclear blackmail or not, India will strike back. Which brings us to Pakistan’s arsenal. Their nukes are stored in a disassembled state. What does that mean? It means that a warhead is stored separate from the missile. So if you want to fire them, you’ll have to assemble them first. You’ll have to load the warhead on the missile.
Now the question is, where are they stored? Across the country. Pakistan can fire nukes from the air and land. Not from the sea air. From the air, they can fire nuclear weapons using the Mirage plane. Four bases in Pakistan are said to house the Mirages. The Mirage base in Attock. The Ratiki base in Shorkot. The Shahbaz base in Dehkobabad. And the Masroor base near Karachi.
These four bases have the Mirage jets. So logically, the nuclear warhead should be nearby. Near these bases. Then you have land-based ballistic missiles. Like the Shaheen-2 and the Fateh-2. Reports say at least five bases in Pakistan could house these missiles. Gujranwala, Sargodha, Pano Aqeel, Khuzdar and Akhrot. Like we just told you, Sargodha is near Kirana Hill.
So the question is, could India have struck this target? I don’t think there is any doubt on the capability. Indian missiles were hitting Pakistani bases at will. They also created a runway at the Sargodha air base. So yes, we could have hit Kirana Hill if we wanted to.
Whether we actually did or not is a mystery. The Indian Army said we did not. And two factors would have guided this decision. Number one, the escalation. You see, striking air bases is one thing, but striking a nuclear site is a major escalation. And as the military said, that was never our intention. Operation Sindhu was not escalatory from the word go. That’s the first point. Factor number two, the fallout.
Kirana Hills is just 170 kilometers from the Indian border. If there is an explosion, if there is a nuclear explosion, would the fallout be significant? Or would it be felt across the border too, in India? Udeni would have thought about it.
Also, our forces have used their strength responsibly. Throughout this conflict, Pakistan targeted Indian civilians, but India made sure that Pakistani civilians did not become collateral damage. Plus, our forces have shown them their ability to carry out decision strikes.
So, I repeat, had India watched it, it could have struck Pakistani nukes by first hitting the base near their nuclear command center and then hitting the mountain holding the nukes. It would have been the death blow. But India’s denial has been categorical.
So, as things stand, there was no nuclear escalation. It’s just one of those war stories that fuel intrigue and imagination.
Thank God for it.
