Nuclear security has become a specialized subject in contemporary politics. The security of radiological materials and nuclear facilities has always been a global concern since the advent of nuclear weapons. Nuclear countries need to relentlessly boost their protocols to make sure infallible measures are in place to protect the nuclear sites and material. In fact, any single nuclear incident by non-state actors may drastically impact on global peace. The9/11 terror attacks have generated myths about Pakistan’s nuclear security program. The US-led Western policy analysts and scholars have expressed their trepidations regarding the security of Pakistan’s nuclear program.
The US-led Western media has projected various hypothetical scenarios concerning the security of Pakistan’s nuclear assets. The European countries often pressurize Pakistan that its nuclear assets can go into the wrong hands. Moreover, some media houses have been on a mission to portray a dramatically chaotic situation regarding the security of Pakistan’s nuclear assets. The security analysts of India, the U.S and the West have highlighted a potential threat from militants and their sympathizers in the military and civil organization. Meanwhile, some terrorist attacks on military installations, religious centers, and public places, have been observed in Pakistan. The Western media houses, scholars and academicians pointed out these incidents and build a narrative that Pakistan’s nuclear assets are not secure when military installations are under attack.
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Consequences of the false Western narrative
However, the Western narrative is based on uncorroborated accusations that neglect the ground realities. It is necessary to expose these myths and present a real picture of the security of Pakistan’s nuclear program. The other side of the picture is quite different and presents a confident Pakistan with a much advanced and robust mechanism of nuclear security compared to any other nuclear country. The Western media and defense analysts propagate that Pakistan’s nuclear assets might fall into the wrong hands, however they fail to point out the efforts of Pakistan to ensure the security of nuclear assets.
The authorities responsible for the protection of Pakistan’s nuclear assets have strongly condemned the claims by the US-led Western media and security analysts. Pakistan believes that nuclear security is a prime national responsibility. In this regard, Pakistan has established effective and comprehensive nuclear security regimes which ensure perpetual preparedness and constant vigilance as well as cover nuclear and radioactive materials, associated activities and facilities throughout their lifecycle. Furthermore, Pakistan has taken significant steps to ensure nuclear security and develop a nuclear security culture defined by the IAEA.
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Security culture is bound to be slightly different in nuclear countries
The development of a nuclear security culture is the prime liability of a nuclear country. The nuclear security culture has played a significant role to implementing the essential laws and legislations regarding the security of a nuclear program. Pakistan has taken various steps to upgrade its nuclear security by inviting various stakeholders including scientists, defense organizations, and nuclear institutes to share their inputs regarding nuclear security. In order to stay abreast with challenges and threats, Pakistan’s nuclear security regime is frequently reviewed and rationalized in the context of international Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) guidelines, internal obligations, and global finest practices.
The Director-General of IAEA Yukiya Amano visited Karachi in 2018. He said that “the metropolis’s nuclear plants were heavily protected and that Pakistan was committed to nuclear safety.”In fact, Pakistan has a robust nuclear security culture that helps in strengthening and supporting the country’s nuclear security regime. Moreover, Pakistan has taken fool-proof security measures to protect its nuclear assets against any terrorist threats.
The IAEA admired the valuable efforts of Pakistan to ensure nuclear security. According to the report of the nuclear security index (NTI) 2020, Pakistan is the most improved state due to the arrangements to strengthen the regulations its security and control measures score increased by 25 points.
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The NTI report shows the significant efforts of Pakistan as “the most improved country in ranking for countries with nuclear materials, improving its overall score by 07 points” in 2020. Moreover, increased 01 point score in Global Norms as it subscribed to a nuclear security INFCIRC.INFCIRC are documents used for communication between the member states and IAEA. Pakistan ranked in top position compared to the other states in the nuclear security and control measure category. This (IAEA) report represents the commendable efforts of Pakistan to ensure nuclear security and rejected the Indian and US-led Western baseless propaganda against the nuclear security of Pakistan.
Pakistan has done extraordinary efforts to set up a nuclear security regime and developed a nuclear security culture that has need of support and encouragement from international organizations, strategic analysts, academicians, and think tanks. Pakistan needs to boost its nuclear diplomacy via effective representation across the globe to mitigate the Indian and Western propaganda. To dispel the myths about Pakistan’s nuclear security is possible via publication, narrative building, and academic writings. It would be the perfect way to counter the Indian and US-Western allegations regarding Pakistan’s nuclear security program.
The writer is an Associate Director at Strategic Vision Institute (SVI). The views expressed in the article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Global Village Space.