nuclear-news

Pakistan has greatly accelerated its nuclear weapons program

“The Pakistanis have significantly accelerated production of uranium and plutonium for bombs and developed new weapons to deliver them,”

At 110, Pak N-stock shoots past India’s: The Tribune, Chandigarh, India by Ashish Kumar Sen in Washington DC , 1/2/2011, Pakistan has doubled the size of its nuclear stockpile over the past several years, edging past India and now has more than 100 deployed weapons, according to a Washington Post report.

“The Pakistanis have significantly accelerated production of uranium and plutonium for bombs and developed new weapons to deliver them,” The Post reported on Monday.

India and Pakistan were believed to have had weapons parity until recently. The expanded stockpile makes Pakistan the world’s fifth largest nuclear power, ahead of “legal” powers France and Britain, the Post said.

It added that while Pakistan had produced more nuclear-armed weapons, India was believed to have larger existing stockpiles of such fissile material for future weapons. Pakistan had accused the US of extending India’s advantage by giving it a civilian nuclear agreement, one which officials in Islamabad have demanded for Pakistan but to no avail.

Evidence of an accelerated production of nuclear weapons in Pakistan has abounded for some years…….

The assassination of Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer by a member of his own elite bodyguard in January underscored US concerns about the possibility of rogue Islamists in the Pakistani establishment getting their hands on the country’s nuclear arsenal.

The Tribune, Chandigarh, India – Main News

February 2, 2011 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Pakistan, weapons and war