Pakistan Says "No Change" In Nuke Policy Hours After Imran Khan's Speech

There is no change in Pakistan's nuclear policy, their Foreign Office said, hours after Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan vowed that his country will never ever start a nuclear war with India, amid escalating tensions between the nuclear powers.

Addressing a gathering of the Sikh community at the Governor's House in Lahore on Monday evening, Imran Khan said both India and Pakistan are nuclear-armed countries and if tension escalates, the world will face danger.

"There will be no first from our side ever," he said, without explaining further.

However, Imran Khan has been repeatedly threatening the possibility of a nuclear war with India.

However, Pakistan's Foreign Office said Imran Khan's comments were being taken out of context and did not represent a change in Islamabad's nuclear policy.

"Prime Minister's comments on Pakistan's approach towards conflict between two nuclear armed states are being taken out of context," Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Mohammad Faisal said in a late night tweet on Monday.

"While conflict should not take place between two nuclear states, there's no change in Pakistan's nuclear policy," he said.

In August, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had said that India may see a major shift in its nuclear weapons doctrine by doing away with a 'no first use policy' in the future. He said a decision would be taken in future based on the circumstances at the time.

"Till today, our nuclear policy is 'No First Use'. What happens in future depends on the circumstances," he had said at an event in Rajasthan's Pokhran, the site of India's nuclear tests in 1998.