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Pak could nuke India if threatened: Musharraf

"I would never like to use it first of all. But if you ask me a direct question when would I use them.. if Pakistan's security gets jeopardised, then only one would like to think of it," Musharraf told the TV programme on Sunday.

The military ruler said he was proud of Pakistan's nuclear bomb "for Pakistan's sake".

Asked how secure Pakistan's nuclear weapons were, Gen Musharraf said, "Very secure. That is my guarantee. The national command authority is in place."

According to the Federation of American Scientists, Pakistan has 25 to 35 nuclear bombs which have the capability to target any city in India.

General Anthony Zinni, retired chief of Central Command, told CBS that Musharraf may be America's last hope in Pakistan, and if he fails, the fundamentalists would get hold of the "Islamic bomb".

Justifying the coup, Musharraf said, "The people of Pakistan were fed up with what was going on" in the country and that he "restored confidence".

Gen Musharraf asserted, "Pakistan is not a banana republic or a failed State in the region with nuclear weapons, a State that could end up in a nuclear war with India."

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