The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) reacted to comments by Donald Trump that Pakistan may have carried out secret nuclear tests, saying that “clandestine and illegal nuclear activities are in keeping with Pakistan’s history, that is centred around decades of smuggling, export control violations, secret partnerships.”
India said it has long been drawing the attention of the international community to Pakistan’s record of nuclear non-transparency and proliferation – pointing to networks like the Abdul Qadeer Khan network as examples.
The MEA framed Pakistan's alleged secret nuclear activities as a matter of regional security concern, emphasising that the issue was noted in the context of the US remarks and underlining India’s vigilance
Clandestine Nuclear Activities Are In Keeping With Pak's History: India
"India has always drawn the attention of the international community to these aspects of Pakistan's record," EAM spokesperson Jaiswal said.
Summary
India on Friday noted US President Donald Trump's comments about Pakistan testing nuclear weapons and said Islamabad's "clandestine" nuclear activities were centred around decades of smuggling and export control violations.
Last week, Trump named Pakistan among the countries testing nuclear weapons. The US president said this to justify his administration's plans to resume testing of the US' own nuclear assets after a gap of over three decades.
"Clandestine and illegal nuclear activities are in keeping with Pakistan's history, that is centred around decades of smuggling, export control violations, secret partnerships," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said at his weekly media briefing.
He was responding to a question on the issue.
"India has always drawn the attention of the international community to these aspects of Pakistan's record," Jaiswal said.
"In this backdrop, we have taken note of President Trump's comment about Pakistan's nuclear testing," he added.
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