US confident about Pakistan’s nuclear security

State Dept says Islamabad has necessary controls in place

The United States has expressed faith in Pakistan’s nuclear security, saying that its confident the country has all necessary controls in place.

“I think we have said before that we are confident that Pakistan has the security controls they need to have in place on their [nuclear] arsenal… I will let them speak to that more specifically. I wouldn’t get into that,” State Department spokesman John Kirby said at his daily news briefing on Friday. He was responding to a question about whether Pakistan’s nuclear assets were safe from terrorists.



Replying to a question about Kashmir, Kirby said: “Our position has not changed. We want this to be worked out between both sides, the issue of Kashmir. And generally, generally speaking, I mean, we obviously want to see the tensions that exist right now be brought down and for dialogue to take its place – meaningful dialogue to try to address these issues bilaterally between the countries.”



“Obviously there are still differences of opinion that exist between them. We have differences with many countries too, and we continue to try to work through them to the best we are able to. And that’s all we’re asking, that’s all we’re hoping, that’s all we’re expecting for leaders in India and Pakistan to do as well,” the spokesman added.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 8^th, 2016.