The Crossbill News Desk
India has responded cautiously to US President Donald Trump’s claim that Pakistan was among the countries “testing nuclear weapons,” framing the remark within Islamabad’s history of covert and illicit nuclear activities.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Friday (November 7) said it had “taken note” of Trump’s statement, while reiterating long-standing concerns about Pakistan’s proliferation record.
At the ministry’s weekly media briefing, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said Pakistan’s “secret and illegal nuclear activities are consistent with its long history of smuggling, violations of export control regulations, covert partnerships, the A.Q. Khan network and continued nuclear proliferation.”
“India has always drawn the world’s attention to these aspects of Pakistan’s record,” he added.
“It is in this context that we have taken note of President Trump’s remarks regarding Pakistan’s nuclear tests.”
Jaiswal’s comments came after Trump, during a television appearance on CBS’s 60 Minutes earlier this week, claimed that “North Korea has been testing. Pakistan has been testing … Russia’s testing, and China’s testing, but they don’t talk about it.”
The remarks were part of a broader conversation in which Trump defended his decision to instruct the Pentagon to resume nuclear weapons testing.
Trump said he did not want the United States to be “the only country that does not do so.”
Later, in a post on his Truth Social platform, he wrote that he had directed the Department of War to initiate testing “on an equal basis” with other nations.
Amid rising concerns over the statement, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright sought to clarify Washington’s position, stating that there was no plan to conduct live nuclear detonations.
“These are not nuclear explosions. These are what we call non-critical explosions,” Wright told Fox News, explaining that the US was only testing components using advanced simulations.
So far, there has been no official reaction from Pakistan’s Foreign Office. However, CBS News quoted a senior Pakistani security official as saying that “Pakistan was not the first to carry out nuclear tests and will not be the first to resume nuclear tests.”
Pakistan’s last known nuclear tests were carried out in 1998, shortly after India’s Pokhran-II series. Since then, both countries — neither of which has signed the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty — have observed a unilateral moratorium on nuclear testing.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Friday (November 7) said it had “taken note” of Trump’s statement, while reiterating long-standing concerns about Pakistan’s proliferation record.
At the ministry’s weekly media briefing, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said Pakistan’s “secret and illegal nuclear activities are consistent with its long history of smuggling, violations of export control regulations, covert partnerships, the A.Q. Khan network and continued nuclear proliferation.”
“India has always drawn the world’s attention to these aspects of Pakistan’s record,” he added.
“It is in this context that we have taken note of President Trump’s remarks regarding Pakistan’s nuclear tests.”
Jaiswal’s comments came after Trump, during a television appearance on CBS’s 60 Minutes earlier this week, claimed that “North Korea has been testing. Pakistan has been testing … Russia’s testing, and China’s testing, but they don’t talk about it.”
The remarks were part of a broader conversation in which Trump defended his decision to instruct the Pentagon to resume nuclear weapons testing.
Trump said he did not want the United States to be “the only country that does not do so.”
Later, in a post on his Truth Social platform, he wrote that he had directed the Department of War to initiate testing “on an equal basis” with other nations.
Amid rising concerns over the statement, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright sought to clarify Washington’s position, stating that there was no plan to conduct live nuclear detonations.
“These are not nuclear explosions. These are what we call non-critical explosions,” Wright told Fox News, explaining that the US was only testing components using advanced simulations.
So far, there has been no official reaction from Pakistan’s Foreign Office. However, CBS News quoted a senior Pakistani security official as saying that “Pakistan was not the first to carry out nuclear tests and will not be the first to resume nuclear tests.”
Pakistan’s last known nuclear tests were carried out in 1998, shortly after India’s Pokhran-II series. Since then, both countries — neither of which has signed the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty — have observed a unilateral moratorium on nuclear testing.
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