Sir Richard Mottram.

While the Indo-US nuclear deal is virtually rocking the nation, a top intelligence expert has warned that India needs to regulate the use of nuclear capabilities and more importantly keep a keen eye on how Pakistan shapes its nuclear programme.

Sir Richard Mottram, a former permanent secretary of intelligence, security and resilience in the British cabinet office said it was very important to note the way in which the nuclear capabilities of the two countries in the sub-continent develop in the coming years.

"Regulated nuclear capabilities of India and Paksitan will not only add to stability in that region but also won't contribute to posing further instability elsewhere in the world," Mottram told Nature India on the sidelines of his talk at the European Science Open Forum (ESOF) in Barcelona, Spain.

Expressing concern over the way terrorist outfits like Al-Quaeda are operating in Pakistan, he said during his tenure with the UK government, his team had had active talks with the Pakistan government about this issue.

Mottram said there were some very serious terrorist threats in the sub-continent. "There have been a number of very damaging terrorist attacks in the recent past. While the countries need to worry about terrorists using conventional explosives, they also have to worry about things that are less likely to happen but could have bigger consequences," he said. These threats were from biological weapons as well as emerging sciences such as nanotechnology and cyber technology.

He was particularly concerned about the use of cyber technology in India since 'the best way to conduct a cyber attack is from inside the organsiation'. "India has a wealth of IT professionals, who need to be regulated very efficiently to thwart any such attack," Mottram pointed out.

His study of the Indian model of regulating emerging technology indicated that it was a robust one. "India takes these issues very, very seriously. But there are newer threats everyday and each country needs to watch out."

Earlier, delivering a talk on 'Science and the terrorist challenge' at the ESOF, Mottram said science potentially contributed to the problem of terrorism as well as helping to counter it.

"There is the awkward fact that scientists, engineers and doctors play a considerable role as terrorists. There is the risk that inadequately regulated scientific activity may significantly enhance terrorist threat. And there is the risk that scientific and technological solutions in sensors, biomatrics or information handling could impact the character of free society," he said.