India introduced nuclear weapons in South Asia: Pakistan

Pakistan Embassy spokesperson refutes reports that Pakistan is 'irresponsibly building its nuclear arsenal'

NEW YORK: Pakistan has debunked a claim that it was irresponsibly building its nuclear arsenal, and called for shifting attention to India’s investment in destabilising technologies and its aggressive posturing.

“Pakistan was not the first to introduce nuclear weapons in South Asia; India was,” a spokesman for the Pakistan Embassy in Washington said in a letter published in The New York Times on Saturday.



The spokesman, Nadeem Hotiana, was responding to a recent editorial claiming that Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal was growing ‘faster than any other country’s,’ and that ‘Persuading Pakistan to rein in its nuclear weapons programme should be an international priority.’ Hotiana said, “Recent public reports confirm that India continues to grow its nuclear programme by testing missiles with longer ranges.”

A special waiver for India for nuclear trade is another destabilising step, the letter said.



It added that Pakistan has proposed an agreement with India on nuclear restraint, including a strategic restraint regime that could address concerns raised in the editorial.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 15^th, 2015.