India is afraid of China : ‘Forget maps, Delhi better takes up incursions in Ladakh with Beijing’ PDP Kashmir

Srinagar, Feb 15: After Indian  Home Minister P Chidambaram warned of action against the Peoples Democratic Party for displaying controversial State-map, the party president Mahbooba Mufti Monday accused New Delhi of being silent on Chinese incursions in Jammu and Kashmir.“PDP is the only party which talks about the parts of JK’s territory under China. When we talk about final Kashmir resolution,

we demand JK’s territory under China back,” Mahbooba told Rising Kashmir at her Gupkar residence.She said the party displayed the map of erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir  which includes the then territory currently under China’s control. “One should not forget that Kashmir used to remain connected with Central Asian countries like Iran, China and Afghanistan through the ancient routes like Yarkand and Kashkghar.

About Home Minister’s warning, the PDP chief said, “I respect Chidambaram. But instead of issuing warnings against PDP, he (Home Minister) should check the Chinese incursions in Ladakh and settle the visa row with Beijing as well”.

She said India takes bold stand when it comes to getting back the part of Kashmir under Pakistan. “But it (India) seems to be afraid to talk about Chinese incursions and the huge infrastructure including roads being built by China in Ladakh,” she said.

Claiming that China is constructing huge infrastructure especially roads every year on the State’s territory, Mahbooba said, “Why isn’t India talking about such things”.

“We want freedom to walk on all ancient routes of the State. We want restoration of all roads which were used by the people of Kashmir when they were travelling on horses. We have Karakoram pass, which can connect JK not just with India but with the rest of the world as well. We want JK to be trade-hub and a gateway of Central Asian countries,” she said.

The PDP chief said her party’s stand had been to see Kashmir as it existed before 1947, which means Prime Minister, Governor (elected), joint council having member of PaK as well, dual currency, State as a free economic zone and full administrative powers.

The PDP in a power-point presentation in Srinagar on Saturday depicted Aksai Chin in red colour and as part of China, while the Pakistan Administered Kashmir was coloured in green.

The move, however, triggered strong criticism first by the chief minister Omar Abdullah and then by Home Minister.

“Mahbooba should clear her stand on map. We cannot gift State’s territory to China,” Omar had said.

Chidambaram had also reacted sharply to the development. He told a news channel that PDP had made a big mistake and if it did not correct it, he would take action against it. (Writer-South Asia)

Kashmir hub to 2100 species of medicinal, fruit & aromatic plants

Srinagar, Feb 5: Jammu and Kahsmir is home to around 2100 species of medicinal and aromatic plants with most of them found in the forests of the Valley, experts said. Experts said all these herbs were beneficial to man in one way or the other.

 “There is a tremendous potential of medicinal and aromatic plants in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, especially in Kashmir. The entire Kashmir vale is having this natural wealth in abundance,” said Director, Jammu and Kashmir Medicinal Plants Introduction  Centre (JKMPIC), Sheikh GULZAAR.

He said forest institutions must include medicinal and aromatic plants in “major forest produce” like they have included timber.

“These plants are considered as minor forest produce. They may be minor by quantity, but so far as their value is concerned, they are worth crores of rupees, which may outnumber the potential of timber,” said Sheikh GULZAAR.

He said there were number of uses of both medicinal and aromatic plants. “A medicinal plant namely Texus baccata Linn, secrets an anti-insect drug called Taxol, which has got a very high medicinal value,” said Sheikh GULZAAR.      

To name a few other traditional medicinal herbs, the very popular Artemisia absinthium is used for curing Ascaris (round worms), Rheum emodi Wall for useful in dyspepsia, ulcers and wounds for quick healing, Valeriana jatamansi Jonesis used in ladies’ tonic, where as Aconitum heterophyllum secretes essential alcoholides.

“Then Origanum vulgare cashmeriana, a gynecological product, has got a huge demand both in national and international markets. Kashmir is the only place in South Asia , Origanum vulgare cashmeriana is useful in Bath to ladies after child birth; antiseptic.. So this is the right place for Origanum vulgare cashmeriana, for the topography here is good and environment and temperature are also conducive for this product,” he said.

Globally, he said, people were moving from allopathic medicines to natural remedies because of “least chances of side-effects in them and their affordability.”

Some of the aromatic plants found in forests include wild Rose, Lavender, Rosemarry, and Juniper. “Although wild rose is not abundant in forests, however it can be cultivated there,” he said.

Sheikh GULZAAR said aromatic plants usually secrete essential oils “that are used in making perfumes, soaps, rose oil, cosmetics, confectionaries and so on.” He said the rose oil extracted from Kashmir has been found to much better than that of China and other countries.

An aromatic plant called Jurinea dolomiaea Boiss is used in incense sticks, Dyscorea is used in soaps, where as Pyrethrum secretes a natural anti-mosquito insecticide.

“The anti-mosquito insecticide that we generally get in markets is not natural but synthetic, besides it is not environment-friendly. However, we have got a good natural anti-mosquito insecticide, chemically called Pyrithine, which may not be available in high contents here, but Kashmiri temperature is ideal for the aromatic herb locally called Pyrethrum, which secretes this natural insecticide,” he said.

 “There was a time when this herb was cultivated in South Kashmir region  by Jammu and Kashmir Medicinal Plants Introduction Centre (JKMPIC), ” he added.

Sheikh GULZAAR said there were also some aromatic plants “that can be used for food as well.” “For instance (Black cumin) plant is both an edible and aromatic plant,” he said.  

He said earlier apart from growing in forests, some valuable herbs would grow in Srinagar city as well. “There were a number of natural herbs found here, for which we didn’t need to go to the forests. Some of these were  Oak-Quercus robur Colchicum Luteum,Saffron  (Crocus sativus Linn), Marijuana-Cannabis cashmiriana, Hawthorn (Crataegus  oxycantha), Clary Sage (Salvia sclarea), Celosia Linn, Pyrethrum, Malus communis, Prunus armeniaca, Prunus serotina, Cedrus deodar,  Aeaxulus indica Colebr, Capsicum annum, Ginkgo biloba Seeds,Wild Cherry, Sweet Cherry, Pomengranate , Sweet Appricort, Apple, Kewi, Plum, Lukat, Peach, Almond, Walnut Grapes, Sweet Chestnut, Ginkgo biloba , Althaea officinalis, cypress cashmiriana ,Ceratonia siliqua, Viola serpentine cashmiriana (Bunafsha),  Dioscorea  deltoidea, Saussurea costus cashmiriana, Gladiolus  , Saw Palmetto (Serenoa repens), Atropa Belladona , Kuth (Saussuria lappa), Phytolacca acinosa, Rosmarinus officinalisetc, Rosemerry.

In order to popularize medicinal plants, particularly those used in  Unani,Ayurvedic/Hemopathy, The Jammu and Kashmir Medicinal Plants Introduction Centre  is  one of the premier  Agriculture, Horticulture & Floriculture based institution involved in production, development, introduction, trading and manufacturing of  Fruit, Medicinal Plants, Vegetable seeds of Kashmir.

For Planting materials
Available in : 15th Feb- 15th March (Every Year)
Some plants are available in Polybag/without Polybag

For Seed materials
Available in : January - December (Full Year)
(Depending on availability)
Available in With and without Poly bag and seeds Available in our Centre.
Fruiting years will be Depend on Your State or country climate.

Seeds and planting materials would be supplied against advance payment depending upon the availability at JKMPIC Headquarter/ International Information Resource Centers.

Get more details for seed/planting material:-

The Jammu and Kashmir Medicinal Plants Introduction Centre
POB: 667 GPO Srinagar SGR J&K 190001
Ph: 01933-223705
Mob: 09858986794
e-mail: jkmpic@gmail.com

home: http://jkmpic.blogspot.com

(Hindi)

कश्मीर औषधीय, फल एवं सुगंधित पौधों की 2100 प्रजातियों के लिए हब

श्रीनगर, 5 फरवरी: जम्मू Kahsmir उनमें से ज्यादातर के साथ 2100 के आसपास औषधीय और सुगंधित पौधों की प्रजातियों के लिए घर है घाटी के जंगलों में पाया, विशेषज्ञों ने कहा. विशेषज्ञों ने कहा कि इन सभी जड़ी बूटियों एक ही रास्ता या अन्य में मनुष्य के लिए लाभदायक थे.

उन्होंने कहा कि जम्मू और कश्मीर राज्य में औषधीय और सुगंधित पौधों की एक जबरदस्त क्षमता कश्मीर में, विशेष रूप से है. , निदेशक, जम्मू और कश्मीर मेडिसिनल प्लांट्स परिचय सैंटर (JKMPIC), Sheikh GULZAAR कहा पूरे कश्मीर घाटी बहुतायत में इस प्राकृतिक संपदा चल रहा है ".

उन्होंने कहा कि वन संस्थानों में औषधीय और सुगंधित पौधों में शामिल हैं "प्रमुख वन उपज" की तरह वे लकड़ी शामिल होना चाहिए.
"ये पौधे के रूप में लघु वन उपज माना जाता है. शेख GULZAAR ने कहा कि वे मात्रा से मामूली हो, लेकिन अभी तक के रूप में उनके मूल्य का सवाल है, वे करोड़ों रुपये की है, जो लकड़ी की संभावना बढ़ सकती हैं. '

उन्होंने कहा कि दोनों औषधीय और सुगंधित पौधों के उपयोग के नंबर थे. "एक औषधीय पौधे अर्थात् Texus baccata Linn, रहस्य एक विरोधी कीट Taxol नामक दवा है, जो एक बहुत ही उच्च औषधीय मूल्य मिल गया है," Sheikh GULZAAR कहा.

कुछ अन्य पारंपरिक औषधीय जड़ी बूटियों का नाम, बहुत लोकप्रिय Artemisia चिरायता उपयोगी के लिए अपच अल्सर, और त्वरित उपचार के लिए घावों में (गोल कृमि) Ascaris, Rheum emodi दीवार के इलाज के लिए प्रयोग किया जाता है, Valeriana jatamansi Jonesis 'महिलाओं के टॉनिक, जहां के रूप में प्रयोग किया जाता Aconitum heterophyllum आवश्यक alcoholides secretes.

"तो फिर Origanum vulgare cashmeriana, एक gynecological उत्पाद, दोनों राष्ट्रीय और अंतर्राष्ट्रीय बाजारों में भारी मांग हो गया है. कश्मीर दक्षिण एशिया में ही जगह है, Origanum vulgare cashmeriana स्नान में बच्चे के जन्म के बाद महिलाओं के लिए उपयोगी है, एंटीसेप्टिक .. उन्होंने कहा, तो यह Origanum vulgare cashmeriana के लिए सही स्थलाकृति के लिए जगह है, यहाँ है अच्छा है और वातावरण और तापमान भी इस उत्पाद के लिए अनुकूल हैं ".

विश्व स्तर पर, उन्होंने कहा, लोगों को एलोपैथिक दवाओं से की वजह से प्राकृतिक उपचार के लिए आगे बढ़ रहे थे "उन्हें और उनके पक्ष में सामर्थ्य का प्रभाव कम से कम संभावना है."

सुरभित जंगलों में पाया पौधों में से कुछ जंगली गुलाब, लैवेंडर, Rosemarry, और जुनिपर शामिल हैं. ", यद्यपि जंगली गुलाब जंगलों में प्रचुर मात्रा में नहीं है, लेकिन यह वहाँ खेती की जा सकती" उन्होंने कहा.

Sheikh GULZAAR कहा. कर रही है कि इत्र, साबुन, तेल, सौंदर्य प्रसाधन, confectionaries और इतने पर गुलाब में किया जाता है "उन्होंने कहा कश्मीर से निकाले तेल गुलाब ज्यादा चीन और अन्य की तुलना में बेहतर करने के लिए पाया गया है सुगंधित पौधों आमतौर पर आवश्यक तेलों छिपाना देशों के.

एक खुशबूदार संयंत्र बुलाया Jurinea dolomiaea Boiss लाठी, Dyscorea साबुन, जहां के रूप में Pyrethrum एक प्राकृतिक विरोधी मच्छर कीटनाशक secretes में प्रयोग किया जाता है धूप में प्रयोग किया जाता है.

"विरोधी मच्छर कीटनाशक है कि हम आम तौर पर बाजार में लाने के प्राकृतिक सिंथेटिक नहीं है, लेकिन, इसके अलावा यह पर्यावरण के अनुकूल नहीं है. उन्होंने कहा, हालांकि, हम एक अच्छा प्राकृतिक विरोधी मच्छर कीटनाशक, रासायनिक Pyrithine कहा जाता है, जो उच्च सामग्री में यहाँ उपलब्ध नहीं हो सकता है मिल गया है, लेकिन कश्मीरी तापमान खुशबूदार जड़ी बूटी के लिए आदर्श है स्थानीय Pyrethrum है, जो इस प्राकृतिक कीटनाशक secretes बुलाया गया ".

 "वहाँ एक समय था जब इस जड़ी बूटी दक्षिण कश्मीर क्षेत्र में जम्मू और कश्मीर मेडिसिनल प्लांट्स परिचय केन्द्र (JKMPIC) द्वारा खेती की गई थी" उन्होंने कहा.

Sheikh GULZAAR कहा. "है कि अच्छी तरह के रूप में भोजन के लिए इस्तेमाल किया जा सकता है" "वहाँ भी थे कुछ सुगंधित पौधों (काला जीरा) उदाहरण के संयंत्र के लिए, वह दोनों एक खाद्य और खुशबूदार संयंत्र है" कहा.

वह अलग पहले जंगलों में बढ़ती से कहा, कुछ बहुमूल्य जड़ी बूटियों श्रीनगर शहर में भी होने लगा. "वहाँ थे प्राकृतिक जड़ी बूटियों के एक नंबर यहाँ पाया है, जिसके लिए हम जंगलों में जाने की जरूरत नहीं थी. इनमें से कुछ ओक-Quercus robur Colchicum luteum, केसर (Crocus sativus Linn), मारिजुआना, कैनबिस cashmiriana, (Crataegus oxycantha) नागफनी, Clary (Salvia sclarea) बाबा, Celosia Linn, Pyrethrum, Malus communis, आलू armeniaca, आलू serotina थे, Cedrus देवदार, Aeaxulus इंडिका Colebr, शिमला मिर्च वर्ष, जिन्कगो biloba बीज, वाइल्ड चेरी, मीठा चेरी, Pomengranate, मीठा Appricort, एप्पल, Kewi, बेर, Lukat, पीच, बादाम, अखरोट अंगूर, मीठा अखरोट, जिन्कगो biloba, Althaea Officinalis, सरू cashmiriana, Ceratonia siliqua, Viola चक्करदार cashmiriana (Bunafsha), Dioscorea deltoidea, Saussurea costus cashmiriana, gladiolus, देखा (Serenoa repens) Palmetto, Atropa Belladona, Kuth (Saussuria lappa), Phytolacca acinosa, Rosmarinus officinalisetc, Rosemerry.

आदेश में औषधीय पौधों, विशेष रूप से उन यूनानी, आयुर्वेदिक में प्रयोग किया जाता / Hemopathy, जम्मू और कश्मीर औषधीय पौधों का परिचय केंद्र एक प्रमुख कृषि बागवानी, फूलों की खेती और उत्पादन आधारित, विकास, परिचय, व्यापार में शामिल संस्था और फलों के उत्पादन में से एक है लोकप्रिय बनाने के लिए , औषधीय पौधे, कश्मीर की सब्जी बीज.

सामग्री रोपण के लिए
में उपलब्ध है: 15 फ़रवरी - 15 मार्च (हर साल)
कुछ पौधों में polybag polybag बिना / उपलब्ध हैं

बीज सामग्री के लिए
में उपलब्ध है: जनवरी - दिसम्बर (पूर्ण वर्ष)
(उपलब्धता के आधार पर)
साथ में और पाली बैग के बिना उपलब्ध है और बीज हमारे केन्द्र में उपलब्ध है.
फलने साल आपके राज्य या देश जलवायु पर निर्भर हो जाएगा.

बीज और पौध रोपण सामग्री अग्रिम में उपलब्धता के आधार पर भुगतान के खिलाफ की आपूर्ति की जाएगी JKMPIC मुख्यालय / अंतर्राष्ट्रीय सूचना संसाधन केंद्र.

बीज / रोपण सामग्री के लिए और अधिक जानकारी प्राप्त करें: -
जम्मू और कश्मीर औषधीय पौधों का परिचय केंद्र
POB: 667 जीपीओ श्रीनगर SGR जम्मू और कश्मीर 190001
फोन: 01933-223705
भीड़: 09858986794
ई मेल: jkmpic@gmail.com
घर: Jammu and Kashmir Medicinal Plants Introduction Centre

US complicit in India’s systematic use of torture in Kashmir

http://jkmpic.blogspot.com

By Deepal Jayasekera
Washington,  3 Feb: US diplomatic cables obtained by WikiLeaks show that Washington has long had evidence of Indian authorities’ systematic use of torture against opponents of Indian rule over Jammu and Kashmir, but has chosen not to speak out against New Delhi’s gross human rights violations.

In a classified cable sent in April 2005, the then-US ambassador to New Delhi, David C. Mulford, reported to the US State Department on a “confidential briefing” embassy officials had received from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) “on widespread severe torture in Indian prisons in Kashmir between 2002 and 2004.”

“The continued ill-treatment of detainees,” reported Mulford, “despite longstanding ICRC-GOI (Government of India] dialogue, have led the ICRC to conclude” that New Delhi “condones torture.”

In their briefing, the ICRC officials emphasized that those subjected to torture by Indian authorities were generally not anti-Indian insurgents—since Indian security forces have a standard practice of summarily executing suspected insurgents. Rather they were noncombatants, those accused of providing the insurgents support or suspected of having useful information: the “detainees were rarely militants (they are routinely killed), but persons connected to or believed to have information about the insurgency.”

The ICRC officials said they had made more than 177 visits to detention centers and had interviewed 1,491 detainees. Of these, according to the US embassy’s summation of the ICRC findings, 852, or well over half, had suffered abuse. 171 were beaten and 681 were “subjected to one or more of six forms of torture.” 498 persons were subjected to electric shocks; 381 to suspension from a ceiling; 294 to crushing of leg muscles through use of a “roller”; 181 to 180-degree leg-splitting; 234 to various forms of water torture; and 302 to sexual abuse.

The “numbers add up to more than 681,” says the cable “as many detainees were subjected to more than one form of IT (ill-treatment.) ICRC stressed that all the branches of the security forces used these forms of IT and torture.”

Indian and international human rights organizations have presented numerous reports documenting Indian authorities’ horrific human right abuses in the two-decades-old counterinsurgency war in Jammu and Kashmir, India’s only Muslim-majority state.

Nevertheless, the evidence presented by the ICRC to the US diplomats was both damning—given the access the ICRC had had to Indian detention centers—and highly significant. As a rule, the ICRC does not make its findings known to anyone but the government having jurisdiction over the facilities it inspects. It argues that if it assumes a public advocacy role, its status as a neutral organization will be jeopardized and governments will deny access to prisoners, making it impossible for the ICRC to fulfill its humanitarian mission.

But in this case, ICRC officials had apparently become so frustrated and angered by the stance of the Indian government they chose to reveal their findings to US officials. The cable reports, “There is a regular and widespread use of IT and torture by the security forces during interrogation; -- This always takes place in the presence of officers; -- ICRC has raised these issues with the GOI for more than 10 years; -- Because practice continues, ICRC is forced to conclude that GOI condones torture.”

Horrific as were the ICRC’s findings, its officials reported that conditions had improved from the mid-1990s, when security forces invaded villages in the middle of the night and arbitrarily and indefinitely detained many of their residents.

Still, the ICRC had never been allowed right to speak with prisoners at the most “notorious” detention center, the “Cargo Building” in Srinagar. And increasingly the Indian government was seeking to curb the ICRC’s activities, even though, in keeping with its traditional mode of operation, it had not made any of its findings public. According to the April 2005 cable, the ICRC had told the US diplomats, “the MEA [Indian ministry of external affairs] also protested the ICRC’s presence in Srinagar [the capital of Jammu and Kashmir], asking it to ‘wind up’ its operations, advising that its ‘public activities must stop’ (believed to be a reference to a seminar ICRC staff held at Kashmir University on IHL in 2004), and warning against ‘unauthorized contacts with separatist elements’.”

In another cable from 2007, the US’s Indian embassy noted that a member of the Jammu and Kashmir legislature, Usman Abdul Majid, was the leader a pro-Indian government militia “notorious for its use of torture, extra-judicial killing, rape and extortion of Kashmiri civilians suspected of harbouring or facilitating terrorists.”

But while US officials in India have been keeping the State Department informed of the conduct of the Indian security forces and allied militia in Kashmir and of the support this enjoys from the highest levels of the Indian government, neither they nor their superiors in Washington have publicly condemned the Indian authorities. On the contrary, under both George W. Bush and Barack Obama, India has been touted as the world’s most populous democracy and a “natural ally” of the US in promoting “democratic values” around the world. When Obama visited India last month, in deference to his hosts, he studiously avoided any mention of Kashmir.

The US’s silence on the Indian state’s repression in Kashmir is yet another example of the cynicism and hypocrisy of US foreign policy under Republican and Democratic administrations alike. Washington routinely issues ringing condemnations of the human rights violations of foreign governments whose interests and policies are cutting across those of the US corporate elite—condemnations that are then amplified by a pliant media. But India is being assiduously courted by Washington and Wall Street, because it is viewed as a counterweight to a rising China. Hence the US silence on the repression in Kashmir.

Declaring that the US wants to assist India in becoming a “world power,” the US, under George W. Bush, secured India special status in the world nuclear regulatory regime, giving it the right to purchase civilian nuclear technology and fuel, although New Delhi developed nuclear weapons in defiance of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. And Obama, also touting the US’s support for India’s global aspirations, announced during his recent trip to India that Washington supports India becoming a permanent member of the UN Security Council.

The Indian elite’s reaction to the WikiLeaks cables about Kashmir has been telling. A spokesman for the India’s Congress Party-led coalition government brushed the ICRC findings aside, declaring “India is an open and democratic nation which adheres to the rule of law. If and when an aberration occurs, it is promptly and firmly dealt with under existing legal mechanisms in an effective and transparent manner.”

The reality is India’s security forces have and continue to enjoy impunity.

Not surprisingly, the Hindu supremacist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which led India’s government from 1998 to 2004 and presided over much of the repression in Kashmir, had nothing to say about the ICRC findings.

As for the Indian press, it gave the matter short shrift. In some of the major dailies, such as the Hindu and the Indian Express, there were perfunctory reports, but there were no editorials demanding that the government and security forces be held to account. The attitude of the press and the ruling class toward the Kashmir question is exemplified by the recent widespread calls for the writer Arundhati Roy to be charged with treason for suggesting that the people of Jammu and Kashmir should have the right to choose to leave the Indian Union.

In response to the WikiLeaks revelations, the head of the National Conference (NC)— which leads the current state government in Jammu and Kashmir in a coalition with the Congress Party and is also a partner of the Congress in India’s national government—tried to shift the blame on his political rivals.

“We don’t condone torture and will not turn a blind eye to reports of human rights violations,” declared Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. “Not only the state government, but the Center too has a policy of zero tolerance to human rights abuses.”

Refusing to comment directly on the WikiLeaks’ exposure, Abdullah said, “I am not getting into it… It pertains to 2005 and you know who was in power that time.” Abdullah was referring to the fact that the state was then ruled by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), also in a coalition with the Congress Party.

Abdullah’s claims to uphold democratic rights are belied by the actions of his government. Under its direction, security forces killed more than a hundred unarmed demonstrators this summer in a bid to quell a popular mobilization in the Kashmir Valley provoked by the police killing of a youth. (See Kashmir seethes: Indian elite resorts to repression and political maneuvers)

In answer to Abdullah, PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti said, “Omar Abdullah should be the last person talking about human rights abuse. The PDP’s tenure is for everybody to see and we don’t need any certificate from anybody but the people.” Turning the tables on the NC, she added: “We inherited from the National Conference (in 2002) a Kashmir in which human rights violations were at their peak.”

Both Kashmir regional parties have served as junior partners of the Indian state and the principal parties of the Indian bourgeoisie, the Congress Party and the BJP, in the systematic violation of democratic and human rights in Kashmir, including the torture of political prisoners as documented in the diplomatic cables exposed by WikiLeaks.

Pakistani nuclear weapons are heavily deployed near its border with India

WASHINGTON: Pakistan has doubled its nuclear arms stockpile to 110 warheads, developing new weapons to deliver them and significantly accelerating production of uranium and plutonium for bombs to edge ahead of India.

Islamabad's nuclear weapons stockpile now totals more than 110 deployed weapons in a sharp jump from an estimated 30-80 weapons fours years ago, 'Washington Post' reported.

"Pakistan has expanded its nuclear weapons production capability rapidly", the Post quoted David Albright President of the Institute for Science and International Security as saying.

Albright said that based on accelerated production of plutonium and highly enriched uranium, Pakistan may now have an arsenal upto 110 weapons.

The non-government US analyst said that while continuing to produce weapons-grade uranium at two sites, Islamabad has sharply increased its production of plutonium, enabling it to make lighter warheads for more mobile delivery system.

Pakistan's has developed a new missile Shaheen II, with a range of 1,500 miles which is about to go into operation deployment. The country has also developed nuclear capable land and air launched cruise missiles, the Institute said in a new report.

"The Pakistanis have significantly accelerated production of uranium and plutonium for bombs and developed new weapons to deliver them. After years of approximate weapons parity, experts said, Pakistan has now edged ahead of India, its nuclear-armed rival", Washington Post said.

The paper said while Pakistan has produced more nuclear-armed weapons, India is believed to have larger existing stockpiles of such fissile material for future weapons.

Dubbing Pakistan as one of the world's most unstable region, Post said an escalation of nuclear arms race in South Asia possess a dilemma for Obama Administration.

It said in politically fragile Pakistan, the Administration is caught between fears of proliferation or possible terrorist attempts to seize nuclear materials and Pakistani suspicions that the US aims to control or limit its weapons programme and favours India.

Quoting Pakistan's Defense attache at its embassy in Washington, Post said the number of Pakistani nuclear weapons are heavily deployed near its border with India.

The paper said that in December 2008, Peter Lavoie, US national intelligence officer for South Asia, told NATO officials that "despite pending economic catastrophe, Pakistan is producing nuclear weapons at a faster rate than in any other country in the world".