ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: Pakistan has termed the report which says Pakistan has the fastest growing nuclear arsenal as ‘utterly baseless’, and also said that its nuclear programme is only aimed at maintaining peace and stability in the region.
Earlier, a US-based newspaper published a report according to which, Pakistan will be the third-largest nuclear stockpiles in a decade after the United States and Russia.
“We reject the report’s assertion that Pakistan has the fastest growing nuclear arsenal as utterly baseless,” the Foreign Office Spokesman Qazi Khalilullah said in a statement issued on Friday.
“Such reports have the effect of diverting attention from the exponential increase in India’s fissile material stockpiles as a result of nuclear deals with a growing number of Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) countries and its destabilizing consequences for the region,” he said.
The spokesman said that as a nuclear state, Pakistan’s policy is characterized by the utmost restraint and responsibility.
“We strictly abide by the concept of credible minimum deterrence and our nuclear programme is only aimed at maintaining peace and stability in South Asia,” Qazi Khalilullah said.
“Pakistan has no desire to engage in nuclear arms race.”
Qazi Khalilullah said that Pakistan has put forward several initiatives to promote conventional and strategic stability in South Asia including the proposed Strategic Restraint Regime but regrettably India has failed to respond positively.
“Pakistan remains committed to the global objectives of disarmament and nuclear non-proliferation,” the foreign office spokesman added.
On Thursday, the Washington Post reported that Pakistan could become the third largest nuclear stock pile within the next 5 to 10 years behind only the US and Russia, quoting reports published by two American think tanks – the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and the Stimson Center.
