Trump Says Pakistan, China Among Nations Testing Nuclear Weapons; Justifies US Plans to Resume Tests

In an attempt to defend his administration's intentions to restart testing of the US's own nuclear weapons after more than three decades, US President Donald Trump has stated that China and Pakistan are two nations that are testing nuclear weapons.

Trump declared that the United States will begin nuclear weapons testing on a "equal basis" with other nations before to his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping last week.

The US president listed China, North Korea, Pakistan, and Russia as the nations testing nuclear weapons in an interview with CBS News' Norah O'Donnell on Sunday.

"Russia's testing, and China's testing, but they don't talk about it. You know, we're an open society. We're different. We talk about it.... We're gonna test, because they test and others test," Trump said.

"And certainly North Korea's been testing. Pakistan's been testing," he asserted.

Trump announced on social media last Thursday that the United States will begin nuclear weapons testing for the first time in thirty years, just before he met with Xi in South Korea.

Trump asserted that some of the nations testing their nuclear weapons do not recognise them.

"They don't go and tell you about it. You don't necessarily know where they're testing. They test way under -- underground, where people don't know exactly what's happening with the test," he said.

Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia had tested a Poseidon nuclear-capable super torpedo.

In his remarks, Trump strongly justified his decision to restart the process for testing nuclear weapons, saying testing was necessary to ensure the reliability of the weapons.

"They (other countries) test, and we don't test. We have to test. And Russia did make -- a little bit of a threat the other day when they said they were gonna do certain forms of a different level of testing. But Russia tests, China -- and China does test, and we're gonna test also," the president said.

"You make nuclear weapons, and then you don't test. How are you gonna do that? How are you gonna know if they work?" he said.

US media reports state that although the US military has not exploded its nuclear-capable missiles since 1992, it tests them on a regular basis.

Trump reiterated in the interview that he was responsible for averting the May conflict between India and Pakistan and seven previous conflicts.

"And in the meantime, I've solved eight wars. I knocked out eight wars. I had eight wars," he said.

Except the Russia-Ukraine war, which Trump said is the "only one I haven't been successful yet, and -- and that'll happen," he said.

He named the eight conflicts: Cambodia-Thailand, Kosovo-Serbia, Congo-Rwanda; Israel-Iran; Egypt-Ethiopia; Israel-Hamas; Armenia-Azerbaijan, and India-Pakistan.

The US president said he used tariffs to end certain conflicts.

"It did work with India, and it did work with Pakistan, and it did work with -- 60 per cent of those countries. I can tell you, if it wasn't for tariffs and trade, I wouldn't have been able to make the deals," Trump added.

"The prime minister of Pakistan stood up the other day and he said, 'If Donald Trump didn't get involved, many millions of people would be dead right now.' That was a bad war he was ready to start," the US president said.

India has consistently maintained that the understanding on cessation of hostilities with Pakistan was reached following direct talks between the Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs) of the two militaries.

With PTI inputs.