Mega Trump claim: Pakistan ‘actively’ testing nuclear weapons

Washington DC: US President Donald Trump has revealed that Pakistan is among countries “actively testing nuclear weapons”, citing this as a reason for the United States to restart its own nuclear testing after more than thirty years.

In an interview with CBS News’s 60 Minutes on Sunday, Trump stated that multiple nations, including Russia, China, North Korea, and Pakistan, continue to conduct nuclear tests while the US remains the only major power abstaining.

“Russia’s testing and China’s testing, but they don’t talk about it. We’re an open society. We talk about it because otherwise you people are going to report. They don’t have reporters that are going to be writing about it,” Trump said.

He continued, “We’re going to test because they test and others test. And certainly North Korea’s been testing. Pakistan’s been testing.”

Trump’s remarks came amid rising nuclear tensions following Russia’s recent trials of advanced nuclear-capable systems, including the Poseidon underwater drone.

Asked about the implications of restarting American nuclear detonations, Trump defended the decision, saying: “You have to see how they work. The reason I’m saying testing is because Russia announced that they were going to be doing a test. If you notice, North Korea is testing constantly. Other countries are testing. We’re the only country that doesn’t test. And I don’t want to be the only country that doesn’t test.”

The US president also asserted that the country maintains “more nuclear weapons than any other country” and has discussed global denuclearisation with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

“We have enough nuclear weapons to blow up the world 150 times,” Trump said, adding that Russia and China also hold significant stockpiles.

Last week, Trump announced the immediate resumption of US nuclear weapons testing, marking a major escalation with Russia. He described restarting the programme as “appropriate”, given that “others are doing testing”.

Without providing specific details on timing or location, Trump claimed preparations for testing were “already in place” and dismissed concerns that renewed trials could destabilise global security, saying, “I think we have it pretty well locked up.”

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law terminating a long-defunct plutonium disposal agreement with the US, which once aimed to limit weapons-grade material production. The 2000 accord had required both nations to dispose of 34 tonnes of plutonium no longer needed for military purposes.
(With ANI inputs)