Pakistan Says Its Nuclear Programme 'Modest' Compared To India

Washington: In the background of the Nuclear Security Summit hosted by the US, Pakistan today said that its 40-year-old nuclear programme was modest and for the country's defence, and was not meant to threaten anyone.

Foreign Secretary Aizaz Chaudhary said that the International Atomic Energy Agency has recorded 2,734 nuclear incidents worldwide, including five in India, but "not a single accident or breach happened in Pakistan, although our programme is 40 years old".

Pakistan has a modest nuclear programme with "full ownership of its people, essentially for its defence and not to threaten anyone," he told reporters at the Pakistan embassy in Washington.

"Pakistan's nuclear installations are not only secure but the world also acknowledges that they are," he said. "Pakistan has worked very hard to ensure their security."

Mr Chaudhary said that India on the other hand has an "ambitious nuclear programme", and an "equally ambitious conventional weapons programme".

Advertisement

"We have a modest programme because we feel we have the right to defend ourselves.Pakistan has short-range and long-range missiles, and the purpose behind both is to deter aggression," he said.

Mr Chaudhary said Pakistan was working with the international community to ensure the security of its nuclear installations, which were always in safe hands. "The National Command Authority, headed by the Prime Minister (Pakistan), is fully in charge," he added.

Advertisement

Mr Chaudhary said that India had a bigger nuclear programme and that the perception created in the media that Pakistan had the fastest-growing nuclear programme was wrong.

"If the threat level increases we have to meet that and their conventional and nuclear levels are increasing too," he said in context of India's nuclear capabilities.

Advertisement

The US had in February expressed concern over the security of Pakistan's tactical nuclear weapons. State Department Deputy Spokesman Mark Toner had said that the US was "concerned both about the security of those nuclear weapons, and that has been a common refrain in our discussions with Pakistan."

The issue also figured in the US presidential debates. Two days ago, Republican frontrunner Donald Trump said that a nuclear-armed Pakistan is a "very, very vital problem" and that the country needs to "get a hold of" its situation.