Trump's big claim: Pakistan is conducting nuclear tests
What's the story
United States President Donald Trump has claimed that several countries, including Pakistan, are conducting secret nuclear tests. In an interview with CBS News, he justified his decision to lift the 33-year moratorium on US nuclear testing by pointing out that countries like Russia, China, North Korea, and Pakistan are actively testing their own nuclear capabilities. "Russia's testing and China's testing them too," Trump said during the interview.
US
'They test underground'
Since other countries are testing them, "We're going to test because they test and others test," he said. Trump, however, claimed that the US does not "necessarily know" where the "powerful" nations that are testing nuclear weapons are, but that the testing is taking place. "They test ... underground where people don't know exactly what's happening with the test. You feel a little bit of a vibration. They test and we don't test. We have to test," he said.
Testing claims
Concerns over safety of Pakistan's nuclear weapons
Trump's comments come amid concerns over the safety of Pakistan's nuclear weapons due to its ambiguous stance. The country started its nuclear program in the mid-1970s under Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, following its 1971 war with India. Its first public tests were conducted on May 28, 1998, in Chagai, Balochistan. However, Western intelligence and independent experts believe that Pakistan had achieved weapons-grade capability before these detonations through secret enrichment and subcritical testing.
Program concerns
Paskitan's nuke threat
India's Defense Minister Rajnath Singh in May raised concerns about the safety of nuclear weapons in an "irresponsible and rogue nation like Pakistan?" In September, Pakistan's Chief of Army Staff, Field Marshal Asim Munir, ignited a firestorm of controversy with provocative nuclear threats against India. Addressing a crowd during a private dinner with the Pakistani-American community in Tampa, Florida, Munir said, "We are a nuclear nation. If we are going down, we will take half the world down with us."