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T V Parasuram in Washington
US Secretary of State Colin Powell, fresh from his talks with Chinese leaders, said that China would continue to keep American cities within striking distance of its missiles and modernise its nuclear weapons.
He, however, suggested that this would not spark an India-China or an India-Pakistan nuclear race, as New Delhi and Islamabad were really concerned about the problems in their neighbourhood.
"The Chinese have always kept a relatively small amount of intercontinental ballistic missiles and they have never viewed them in the same way as the Soviet Union did during the Cold War when we were constantly building up," Powell told reporters.
"If we put them (missiles) in SSBNS (nuclear submarines), they would put them in SSBNS. If we had a triad (missiles in the air, on land and at sea), they had a triad," Powell said about the Cold War.
"The Chinese were never a part of that competition. They built a few first strike intercontinental ballistic missiles. They were not designed to go after somebody else's nuclear forces. They were designed to go after something of enormous value -- San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle -- and as long as they could do that, their nuclear forces were serving their purpose," he said.
"It is expected that over time one would modernise such a force. Can't keep an old force around forever. The Chinese have been working to modernise that force, which tends to make it more stable and safe," he added.
PTI
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