False claims

A recent disturbing report in the British newspaper, The Sunday Times, claimed that Pakistan was looking to export its nuclear weapons to Saudi Arabia. The Pakistan Foreign Office quickly responded by dismissing the reports out of hand. The FO has called the report entirely ‘baseless’ and ‘mischievous’ and insisted, correctly, that Pakistan’s nuclear assets are meant for self-defence, not export. The FO has insisted that Pakistan’s nuclear command and control structure is robust and there are strong controls to make sure that no one attempts to export any component of Pakistan’s nuclear infrastructure. Pakistan has reinforced its commitment to non-proliferation. The statement from the FO is an important one to dispel such needless rumours. The FO, however, has also insisted that Saudi Arabia, like Iran, has a right to peaceful nuclear energy. The last part of the statement may point to the exact nature of nuclear cooperation between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. While Pakistan has insisted that its nuclear programme is meant as a deterrent, questions over the programme have continued to emerge since the late 1990s and early 2000s.
However, since those days, our nuclear programme has been said to have undergone a revamp of its security protocols. While the FO insists that there is no question of selling nuclear arms to a foreign state, questions continue to be asked whenever Pakistan tries to discuss peaceful nuclear energy with another state. The Sunday Times report had specifically claimed that the Saudis had decided to buy ‘off-the-shelf’ nuclear weapons from Pakistan. The claim is that Sunni Arab states are concerned over the nuclear negotiations between the US and Iran. Unnamed US officials are reported to have claimed that there was a long-standing agreement in place between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia that was now going to be exercised. The mention of the Iran nuclear agreement suggests that there are elements within the US defence establishment wthat are looking to scupper the deal. The nuclear question is one where the global imbalance of power becomes clear. While it would be preferable for every country in the world to agree to eliminate all nuclear weapons, this is not happening any time soon. As long as even one country possesses nuclear weapons, there will be an incentive for other countries to proliferate. While Pakistan has a right to export peaceful nuclear technologies, in the world of real politics we may want to avoid going ahead with any nuclear deals that would draw more attention to our nuclear programme.