Govt rubbishes BBC report on Saudis ordering nukes from Pakistan

Nuclear weapons made in Pakistan on behalf of Saudis are ready for delivery, alleges BBC Newsnight.

The Pakistan Foreign Ministry dismissed allegations that Saudi Arabia is investing in the country's nuclear weapons programme in order to secure its own atomic bomb as “speculative, mischievous and baseless,” reported BBC Newsnight on Thursday.

The Saudis are allegedly interested in developing their own nuclear weapons to counter Iran’s atomic programme and they have invested generously in Pakistan’s defence sector, specifically in its missile and nuclear labs, stated Western experts in the Newsnight report.

The story, titled 'Saudi nuclear weapons 'on order' from Pakistan,' also stated that weapons made in Pakistan for the Saudis are ready to be delivered.

“Pakistanis certainly maintain a certain number of warheads on the basis that if the Saudis were to ask for them at any given time they would immediately be transferred," a former Pakistani intelligence officer is anonymously quoted as saying in the article.

The Pakistan Foreign Ministry certainly did not agree with these statements though.

"Pakistan is a responsible nuclear weapon state with robust command and control structures and comprehensive export controls," it stated when contacted by BBC Newsnight regarding the story.