Pakistan is a Responsible Nuclear Weapon State

By Sajjad Shaukat

In the recent past, addressing a Democratic Congressional campaign committee in California, the US President Joe Biden said that Pakistan is “one of the most dangerous nations in the world” because it has “nuclear weapons without any cohesion.”

His responsible statement ignited anger and condemnation in Pakistan. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, former Premier Imran Khan and Chairman of the PTI party condemned the Biden’s statement, terming it contrary to facts and misleading.

In the Corps Commanders’ Conference, chaired by the then Chief of the Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa, the military top brass rebuffed comments from the US president Biden.

These civil and military leaders clarified that Pakistan’s nuclear arsenals are in safe hands under a strong command and control system—as a responsible nuclear weapon state, the country has taken all measures necessary to strengthen its nuclear security regime at par with international best practices.

Notably, clearing President Biden’s irresponsible statement America’s State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel told reporters that such “statements are politically motivated and lack imperial evidence—the United States had confidence in Pakistan’s ability to secure its nuclear arsenal.”

In fact, being the only nuclear country in the Islamic World, Pakistan is on the hit-list of America, India and Israel, including some Western countries which are creating unrest and continue a deliberate propaganda campaign against the safety of these weapons in order to obtain their selfish aims to ‘denuclearise’ Pakistan.

It is mentionable that Indian nuclear weapons and their related-material are unprotected, as various cases of smuggling and theft have verified.

In July 1998, India’s Central Bureau of Investigation seized eight kg. of uranium from Arun, an engineer in Chennai, including two other engineers. It was reported that the uranium was stolen from an atomic research center. On November 7, 2000, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) pointed out that Indian police had seized 57 pounds of uranium and arrested two men for illicit trafficking of radioactive material. IAEA pointed out that Indian civil nuclear facilities were vulnerable to thefts.

In this respect, Kashmir Media Service (KMS) News Org pointed out on February 22, 2022: “Frequent incidents of uranium theft in India pose threats of nuclear terrorism as over 200 kilograms of nuclear material have been stolen during the past two decades in India while 2.5 kilograms of unprocessed uranium were caught from two Indian nationals in Nepal just a few days ago. Experts on nuclear safeguards have urged the International Atomic Energy Agency to place strict surveillance system over radio-active materials in India.”

On January 26, 2003, CNN disclosed that Indian company, NEC Engineers Private Ltd. shipped 10 consignments to Iraq, containing highly sensitive equipment including titanium vessels and centrifugal pumps. Indian investigators acknowledged that the company falsified customs documents to get its shipments out of India. On June 12, 2004, Berkeley Nucleonics Corporation, an American company was fined US $ 300,000 for exporting a nuclear component to the Bhaba Atomic Research Center in India.

In December 2005, Indian scientists, Dr. Surendar and Y S R Prasad had been blacklisted by the US due to their involvement in nuclear theft. In December, 2006, a container packed with radioactive material had been stolen from an Indian fortified research atomic facility near Mumbai.

Nonetheless, owing to the collaboration of the Indian officials with smugglers, proliferation of nuclear components and their related-material have continued from time to time.

It is noteworthy that under the pretext of countering China, Washington has continued supporting India’s programme of advancement and modernisation of nuclear weapons.

America also pressurized IAEA and the Nuclear Suppliers Group to grant a waiver to India for obtaining civil nuclear trade on larger scale.

While, Islamabad has substantially strengthened its nuclear security in the past two decades with zero incidents of mishap, and terrorist’s organisations do not have any access to Pakistan’s nuclear assets. In this connection, ex-President Obama, American high officials and IAEA officials have acknowledged effective command and control mechanism enforced by Pakistan.

The fact of the matter is that Pakistan initiated its nuclear program in the wake of Indian nuclear tests in 1974 (Operation Smiling Buddha). Pakistan was driver by security concerns and desire to maintain strategic balance in the region.

Pakistan faces existential threat from nuclear-India who seeks regional hegemony, while both countries have fought three major wars and some minor skirmishes for unresolved territorial disputes. In this connection, due to Indian war-mongering diplomacy, Kashmir remains a nuclear flashpoint.

Some Indian political and military leaders have openly threatened to split Pakistan into three parts–threatening its territorial sovereignty. The very existence of Indian Cold Start Doctrine validates Pakistan’s legitimate security concerns.

To deter existential threats, Islamabad adheres to Full Spectrum Deterrence policy which involves the deployment of a range of nuclear delivery systems, including aircrafts, land-based ballistic missiles, and sea-based systems. Pakistan refuses to adopt “no first use” policy and believes that nuclear arms are weapons of deterrence rather than weapons of war.

Over the years, Pakistan has taken remarkable steps to improve the security of its nuclear weapons and material. Physical protection of nuclear sites and weapons is a priority, with the deployment of highly trained and equipped security personnel. Furthermore, nuclear weapons are placed in dismantled form in at geographically displaced locations.

A robust command and control system–Strategic Plan Division–has been established to ensure the safe and secure management of nuclear weapons with clear protocols.

Unlike New Delhi, Islamabad has implemented strict export controls to prevent spread of sensitive technology and material in line with its commitments under international non-proliferation regimes. The country has established a comprehensive personnel reliability program to ensure that those with access to nuclear weapons and materials are trustworthy persons who undergo continuous security checks.

Pakistan has concluded comprehensive safeguard agreements with the IAEA to ensure the peaceful use of its nuclear programme, including giving access to IAEA inspectors to visit nuclear facilities. Hence, Pakistan has been following facilities under IAEA safeguards.

IAEA’s recent report (IAEA-CN-184/77) concluded that coordination between Pakistan and the Agency has been “exceptional” as Pakistan extended utmost cooperation to resolve emerging issues of safeguards implementations of its facilities.

However, the world must be worried about safety of Indian nuclear programme and its delivery systems as accidental firing of Indian BrahMos missile into Pakistani territory on March 9, 2022 raises serious concerns about command and control system in place in India.

In essence, it is India which has a poor safety record in nuclear technology usage. There have been 6 incidents since 1987 related to nuclear plants and not all nuclear reactors are under IAEA safeguards.

According to the Times of India, the suspects who were apprehended dealing in uranium are part of a national gang involved in illegal trade. Other than recent two incidents, in 2016 also police had seized almost 9kg (19.8 pounds) of depleted Uranium in Maharashtra.

Sajjad Shaukat writes on international affairs and is author of the book: US vs Islamic Militants, Invisible Balance of Power: Dangerous Shift in International Relations

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