- Pakistan was part of the US sponsored (SEATO) Southeast Asian

Treaty Organization and (CENTO) Central Treaty Organization. In 1962,

it provided a base for US spy plane-U2 in Peshawar which was shot
down by a Russian missile after taking off from Badaber, Peshawar.
During Russian invasion of Afghanistan, the Mujahideen were
supported by the US through Pakistan. At that time Pakistan was the
most favorite and front state fighting Russians and communism.
- After Russian withdrawal, the US abandoned Afghanistan and dumped
Pakistan. This led to the emergence of the Taliban and other groups in
Afghanistan and Pakistan. After 9/11, Pakistan again sided with US on
the war on terror and provided bases which led to disastrous
consequences for Pakistan as it introduced a new phenomenon of
suicide attacks. The US exited Afghanistan after the Doha Accords
however blamed it Pakistan for their humiliating exit and tried to make it
a scapegoat. The relations between the US and Pakistan have
remained on a turbulent patch from the day the Biden administration
came into power.
- Recently, the US President called Pakistan “one of the most dangerous
nations in the world” which had “Nuclear weapons without any
cohesion”. There are number of reasons on which the US is not happy
with Pakistan. First, mainly our close and strong alignment with China
and it is not happy with the CPEC passing through Pakistan. The US
and its allies are trying to contain China through alliances like the
AUKUS, QUAD and India.
- Pakistan’s nuclear assets have the best safeguards according to the
IAEA criteria and it has proved itself as a responsible state. According to
the Anti-Nuclear Security Index “Pakistan was the most improved
country in the ranking for countries with usable nuclear materials
improving its overall score by 7 points”. The index further mentioned
that “the majority of Pakistan’s improvements are in the security and
control measures category (+25) because of its passage of new
regulation”. Pakistan is a signatory of the convention on physical
protection of nuclear material-1980 and also party to nuclear safety
convention of 1997. According to reports, countries like Canada,
Switzerland, Germany, Netherlands and Norway have been ranked with
poor security measures and possibility of sabotage cannot be ruled out.
- The irony is that the US is only country which has used an atomic bomb
on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki which razed both cities to the
 ground. Even the US’ own history on security and safety of nuclear
weapons is deplorable. According to a viral report on social media, the
US lost nine nuclear warheads which were never recovered. At least 56
accidents at nuclear reactors have occurred in the US according to a
2010 study. Despite these lapses at its own end, the US and its allies on
several occasions have issued rhetoric that terrorists can have access
to Pakistan’s nukes.
- The US is ignoring the serious incidents happening in India related to
missiles and uranium. In India there have been several incidents of
smuggling and selling of highly rich uranium in the open market. India is
failing to protect its highly rich radioactive material falling into the wrong
hands. Unfortunately, IAEA and the West did not raise their concerns
and remained silent. On March 9 2022, an Indian missile BrahMos
violated Pakistan’s airspace and fell 124 kilometers inside Pakistani
Punjab. The missile endangered many lives and commercial flights in
the air. The Indian officials did not inform Pakistan about the missile
firing and only responded once the issue was raised by the ISPR.
Imagine if it was armed with a warhead, the consequences could have
been disastrous for India. Pakistan acted with responsibility and did not
take a decision in haste. If it was Pakistan, then there would have been
hue and cry by questioning Pakistan’s safety mechanism and all hell
would have broken loose. No one condemned India rather asked
Pakistan to condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
- It is the hypocrisy of international community as different options are
being used by the West as tools to pressurise Pakistan. Some of the
tools are the use of FATF, IMF, and asking Pakistan to settle its issues
with India on New Delhi’s terms, leave Chinese camp and recognize
Israel. One thing is very clear the actual target of the US is Pakistan’s
nuclear programme by making it controversial and terming it as the
Islamic Bomb. Surprisingly, in the US National Security Strategy
endorsed by Biden recently, there is no mention of Pakistan’s nuclear
weapons. The ISPR has issued a statement after the conclusion of
Corps Commander’s conference that Pakistan is responsible nuclear
weapon state and has taken all necessary measures to strengthen its
nuclear security at par with IAEA standards. Meanwhile the US has
reconciled the statement made by President Biden and issued a
statement by the State Department that “The US is confident of
Pakistan’s commitment and its ability to secure weapons”. Let there be
no doubt that Pakistan is a responsible nuclear state and its assets
have safeguards as per IAEA standards.