The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Friday responded to US President Donald Trump’s recent comments suggesting Pakistan was secretly testing nuclear weapons, saying that clandestine and illegal nuclear activities were “in keeping with Pakistan’s history.”
MEA Official Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, “Clandestine and illegal nuclear activities are in keeping with Pakistan’s history, that is centred around decades of smuggling, export control violations, secret partnerships, AQ Khan network and further proliferation. India has always drawn the attention of the international community to these aspects of Pakistan’s record. In this backdrop, we have taken note of President Trump’s comment about Pakistan’s nuclear testing.”
Trump, in an interview with CBS’ 60 Minutes on November 2, claimed that Russia, China and Pakistan were testing nuclear weapons. He said, “Russia’s testing, and China’s testing, but they don’t talk about it…We are gonna test, because they test, and others test. And certainly North Korea’s been testing. Pakistan’s been testing,” though he did not provide specific evidence or details.
His remarks sparked widespread speculation that Pakistan might have secretly conducted nuclear tests between April and May this year. The conjecture came after a series of earthquakes struck the Afghanistan-Pakistan region between April 30 and May 12, with magnitudes ranging from 4.0 to 4.7—readings reportedly similar to those recorded during Pakistan’s Chagai-I and Chagai-II nuclear tests on May 28 and 30, 1998.