Pak, India exchange lists of nuclear installations

MOFA officially handed over list of its nuclear installations to representative of Indian High Commission in Islamabad

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Pakistan and India exchanged lists of their nuclear assets on Wednesday, as part of a long-standing bilateral agreement designed to prevent attacks on each other’s nuclear facilities.

The ‘Agreement on Prohibition of Attacks against Nuclear Installations and Facilities’ was signed by both nations in December 1988, and mandates that each side must inform the other of their nuclear facilities and installations every January 1. The two countries have been exchanging these lists since 1992.

According to state-run media, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officially handed over the list of its nuclear installations to a representative of the Indian High Commission in Islamabad. In turn, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs provided Pakistan with a similar list of its nuclear facilities through a representative of the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi.

The exchange occurs amid ongoing tensions between the two nuclear-armed nations, which have fought three wars since their independence from British rule in 1947, primarily over the disputed region of Kashmir. Both countries claim the region in full, although they control only parts of it.

Tensions between India and Pakistan escalated recently after India's top court upheld a controversial decision to revoke Indian-administered Kashmir’s special status. The two countries conducted their first nuclear tests in the 1970s and 1980s, respectively, with India testing in 1974 and Pakistan following in 1988.