By NNN-APP,
Washington : “Pakistan has in recent years taken a number of steps to increase international confidence in the security of its nuclear arsenal,” according to an updated U.S. Congressional Research Service report.
The report on Pakistan’s nuclear weapons, prepared for members of Congress and committees and made available Tuesday, acknowledges that “in addition to dramatically overhauling nuclear command and control structures since September 11, 2001, Islamabad has implemented new personnel security programs.”
“Moreover, Pakistani and some U.S. officials argue that, since the 2004 revelations about a procurement network run by former Pakistani nuclear official A.Q. Khan, Islamabad has taken a number of steps to improve its nuclear security and to prevent further proliferation of nuclear-related technologies and materials,” the report says in background evaluation.
“A number of important initiatives, such as strengthened export control laws, improved personnel security, and international nuclear security cooperation programs have improved Pakistan’s security situation in recent years,” two nonproliferation analysts, who have co-authored the report, state in its summary.
Tracing Pakistan’s nuclear program in the regional perspective, the report recalls when India conducted nuclear weapon tests on May 12, 1998, Pakistan’s government responded two weeks later on May 28 and May 30 with six tests in western Pakistan.
Islamabad’s ‘minimum credible deterrent’ doctrine is widely regarded as primarily a deterrent to Indian military action, the report says. The experts also take into account concerns vis-a-vis U.S.-India nuclear deal in 2008.
India has stated that it needs only a ‘credible minimum deterrent,’ but New Delhi has never defined what it means by such a deterrent and has refused to sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, the report points out.
“Furthermore, both the agreement and associated 2008 decision by the Nuclear Suppliers Group to exempt India from some of its export guidelines will renew New Delhi’s access to the international uranium market. This access will result in more indigenous Indian uranium available for weapons because it will not be consumed by India’s newly safeguarded reactors.”
The report touches on the ability of the two South Asian countries to expand their weapons and nuclear security concerns in the context of instability in Pakistan in the recent past and militant challenges but also cites statements by experts and senior U.S. officials who have been voicing increasing confidence in the safety of Pakistani weapons.