The recent remarks by the US President Joe Biden with reference to Pakistan’s nuclear weapons have triggered outrage among Pakistanis, questioning the Washington’s contemptuous attitude towards Islamabad while keeping a mum on illicit nuclear trafficking by belligerent India.
In his remarks at a Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Reception on Thursday, the US President Joe Biden said that Pakistan may be “one of the most dangerous nations in the world” as the Country has “nuclear weapons without any cohesion”.
“What I think is maybe one of the most dangerous nations in the world: Pakistan. Nuclear weapons without any cohesion,” he said as quoted by the transcript of his address published on the White House’s Website.
In response to his statement, the Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that Pakistan would summon the US Ambassador Donald Blome for an official demarche on President Biden’s remarks on Pakistan’s nuclear weapons.
“صدر جو بائیڈن کے بیان پر امریکی سفیر کو طلب کرکے ڈی مارش کیا جائے گا۔”
چیئرمین پاکستان پیپلز پارٹی و وزیر خارجہ بلاول بھٹو زرداری @BBhuttoZardari
2/6— PPP (@MediaCellPPP) October 15, 2022
While addressing a Press Conference at the Bilawal House in Karachi on Saturday, Bilawal Bhutto said that Pakistan’s nuclear assets meet each and every international standard in accordance with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as far as security and safety is concerned.
“I am surprised by the remarks of President Biden […] I believe this is exactly the sort of misunderstanding that is created when there is a lack of engagement,” he remarked.
“If there is any question as to nuclear safety, then they should be directed to our neighbor India, who very recently accidentally fired a missile into Pakistani territory”.
The former three-time Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif said that “Pakistan is a responsible nuclear state that is perfectly capable of safeguarding its national interest whilst respecting international law and practices. Our nuclear program is in no way a threat to any Country. Like all independent states, Pakistan reserves the right to protect its autonomy, sovereign statehood and territorial integrity.”
The former Prime Minister Imran Khan also lamented the US president’s unwarranted comments, saying that Pakistan has one of the most secure nuclear command and control systems?
Imran Khan also questioned that unliked the United States which has been involved in wars across the world, when has Pakistan shown aggression especially post-nuclearization?
In the following, a brief disruption has been given about India’s fragile nuclear security regime and yet impunity and criminal silence by the International Community on it.
India Tops in Nuclear Trafficking
A recent Research conducted in Uranium Smuggling and pilferage has indicated that India is at the top in Nuclear Trafficking and this business is spreading all over India.
The Research indicates that many incidents of irresponsible sale of Uranium in India have been reported and IAEA should look into the issue because this business has placed nuclear security at high risk. Interestingly there is no action has yet to be taken against India by IAEA.
Indian nuclear security protocols must be reviewed by IAEA. India must also be put in FATF black list to effectively monitor money trails of such transactions.
Apparently, the “uranium” recovered in Jharkhand was manufactured in the year 3018 but got expired in 2025.
On 5th May 2021 Indian Police took over the case pertaining to the seizure of 7.1 kgs of natural uranium worth about Rs 21.30 crores from two persons Jigar Jayesh Pandya and Abu Tahir Afzal Choudhary in Mumbai. Bhabha Atomic Research confirmed it is natural radioactive uranium, highly dangerous. How Uranium could be sold so openly?
This would have led to a global catastrophe yet most of the Pakistani media is silent. Where is IAEC/FATF now? There is no statement from these agencies. They were quick to greylist Pakistan. India has nuke sellers but FATF is silent. If it happened in Pak, Indian media would have gone bonkers.
India has a long history of such incidents. Let’s take a look!
November 1994:
Meghalaya Police seized 2.5 kg of uranium from a gang of four smugglers in Domiasiat region
June 1998:
A federal politician was arrested near the West Bengal border with 100 kilograms of uranium.
July 1998:
CBI unearthed a major racket in the theft of uranium in Tamil Nadu with seizure of over 8 kg of the nuclear material
May 2000:
Mumbai Police seized 8.3 kg of uranium. https://t.co/q9GXADq2x2
August 2001:
West Bengal Police arrested 2 men with more than 200gm of semi-processed uranium
2003:
A gang was caught in a village on the Bangladesh border with 225 grams of milled uranium.
December 2006:
A container packed with radioactive material was stolen from a fortified research facility in eastern India.
February 2008:
In 2008, another criminal gang was caught attempting to smuggle #uranium, capable of being used in a primitive radiation-dispersal device, from one of #India’s state-owned mines across the border to Nepal.
The police seized 4 kg of uranium in Supaul district along the Indo-Nepal border.
December 2009:
The Navi Mumbai Crime Branch arrested three people for illegal possession of 5 kg of depleted uranium.
In 2013 guerillas in northeast #India illegally obtained #uranium ore from a government-run milling complex in northeast India and strapped it to high explosives to make a crude bomb before being caught by police.
December 2016:
Police seized almost 9 kg of depleted uranium in the Thane area of Maharashtra. India has a despicable nuclear #safety and security record. Let’s turn a leaf from India’s nuclear history. In 2016, Indian agencies seized almost 9kg of depleted #uranium in the same state of Maharashtra where 7kg of radioactive material was caught in 2021.
India – Five arrested with 1kg of Uranium worth Rs 3 crore.
On 6th May 2021, The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) arrested two men with 7-kg of natural uranium worth $2.9 million in Mumbai.
If India does not take the initiative in amending the safeguards agreement, the IAEA needs to review whether in its current form the agreement is consistent with the Agency’s obligations under its Statute. The International community has a shared responsibility which is to stop illicit-nuclear trafficking as such a dangerous material can be used to make a dirty bomb. India is a test case. It is a country that has seen a sharp rise in nuclear trafficking. The world must react before its too late.
Up till July 2019, there are currently 54 reactors being built around the world… Just two of them are in the United States.
Why the world watchdogs are silent on this. Had this been happened in Pakistan, they might have declared it a day away from doomsday. Such a Hypocrisy.
