With Defence Minister A K Antony expressing concern over the possibility of nuclear weapons falling into wrong hands, Army Chief General Deepak Kapoor on Monday said the likelihood of a limited war "under a nuclear overhang" was a reality in the Indian sub-continent.
"The possibility of a limited war under a nuclear overhang is still very much a reality at least in the Indian sub-continent," he said at a seminar on "Changing Nature of Conflict: Trends and Responses".
At the same event, the defence minister said the threat of nuclear weapons falling into wrong hands was an "area of serious concern" and its consequences would be "unimaginable".
Kapoor said South Asia along with West Asia has emerged as "one of the epicentres of conflict and instability" and warned the situation would "further worsen since there was neither any political or diplomatic unity nor any common ground to build a consensus to fight this new war."
"Territorial disputes, provocation by proxy wars, religious fundamentalism, radical extremism, ethnic tensions and socio-economic disparities are the hallmark of South Asia," he said.
The Army Chief said sub-conventional conflicts may force nations to undertake interventions on "purely humanitarian grounds if the diaspora is under threat, sovereignty of nations being questioned such as attacks on missions abroad and national assets and foreign soil being used constantly for attack by state and non-state actors." PTI
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