Indian media reports have quoted Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) experts as saying that the industrial autoclave — a pressure chamber used to carry out industrial and scientific processes — seized from Chinese ship Dai Cui Yun, can be used for the manufacture of very long-range ballistic missiles or satellite launch rockets.
According to Hindustan Times, the ship on February 3 was detained by Customs at Kandla Port in Kutch District of the Indian state of Gujarat while en-route to Port Qasim in Karachi “on the basis of an intelligence tip-off” and later allowed to proceed to Pakistan on February 20 after dual-use equipment was seized.
The autoclave was declared as an industrial dryer.
According to top government and intelligence officials, the DRDO’s technical experts and missile scientists informed the Kandla Customs, the Ministry of External Affairs and national security planners on Tuesday morning that the seized 18 metres by 4 metres autoclave could indeed be used in the manufacture of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) platforms.
“The autoclave can be used for the manufacture of the motor of very long-range missiles, with range upwards of 1,500 kilometres or even in the construction of a motor for the launch of satellites. Pakistan has the Shaheen-II missile in the 1,500-2,000 kilometre range and the platform was tested last May,” the report quoted an official as saying on the condition of anonymity.
Islamabad’s nuclear missile programme is not indigenous and is based on Chinese design with Beijing helping Islamabad since the 1980s. India claims it is for no other reason that China is blocking India’s entry into the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) till Pakistan is also allowed to enter the nuclear club”.
The report added that given the seizure of the autoclave, Indian “friends” such as France and the United States (US) “could now pressure Beijing to allow India into the NSG”.
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