By IANS,
Islamabad : Pakistan Sunday rejected a US magazine’s report that its nuclear weapons are “transported in delivery vans on congested and dangerous roads”, terming this “baseless and motivated”.
The Atlantic reported in its latest edition that Pakistan has begun moving its nuclear weapons in low-security vans.
A Pakistan foreign ministry spokesperson dismissed it as pure fiction, baseless and motivated, Xinhua reported.
“It is part of a deliberate propaganda campaign meant to mislead opinion,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
According to the US magazine report, Pakistan wants to hide part of its growing arsenal from the US which actually funds much of Pakistan’s military budget.
After the raid on Abbottabad which killed Osama bin Laden, Pakistan’s military chiefs were aware that America’s military has developed plans for an emergency nuclear-disablement operation in their country.
But instead of moving their deadly arsenal in well-defended armored convoys, Pakistan’s Special Plans Division (SPD) prefers to move it around in civilian-style vehicles virtually without security, said the report.
The Pakistani foreign ministry spokesperson said the surfacing of such campaigns is not something new.
“It is orchestrated by quarters that are inimical to Pakistan,” she said, adding that no one should underestimate Pakistan’s will and capability to defend its sovereignty, territorial integrity and national interests.