Handling nuclear weapons has been a daunting challenge for military and political leaders since the beginning of the nuclear era. They want to make sure that the weapons will detonate with great confidence when their use is ordered, but that they won’t act in this manner carelessly or without authorization.
American President Joe Biden said, “What I think is maybe one of the most dangerous nations in the world is Pakistan.” But, since 1950, there have been 32 nuclear weapon accidents, known as “Broken Arrows.” It is defined as an unexpected event involving nuclear weapons that result in the accidental launching, firing, detonating, theft or loss of the weapon. To date, 6 nuclear weapons have been lost and never recovered. Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that he believed it was the sort of misunderstanding that was created when there was a lack of engagement, apparently referring to the former government of Imran Khan and its perceived lack of engagement in international diplomacy. “Pakistan has nuclear assets, we know how to keep them safe and secure, and how to protect them as well.”
The US is the only country to have used nuclear weapons on another country, when it detonated two atomic bombs over two Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II. It is stated that Hiroshima suffered 135,000 casualties, or more than half of its population. The greatest number of these occurred immediately after the bombing. Nagasaki, a city of 195,000, suffered 64,000 casualties. On May 22, 1957, a US B-36 aircraft jettisoned an unarmed Mark 17 ten-megaton hydrogen bomb over Albuquerque, New Mexico. The thermonuclear device, weighing 42,000 pounds, was being transported from Biggs Airfield in Texas to Kirtland Air Force Base just miles south of Albuquerque. However, the device’s conventional explosives detonated, leaving a crater 12 feet deep and 25 feet wide on an uninhabited area of land owned by the University of New Mexico. On Jan 24, 1961, a US B-52 bomber carrying 2 × Mark 39 nuclear weapons crashed near Goldsboro, North Carolina. The aircraft was a part of a Strategic Air Command (SAC) mission designed to keep a significant number of bombers in air at all times. On the morning of January 17, 1966, a B-52 bomber carrying four Mark 28 hydrogen bombs collided with a KC-135 refueling aircraft near Palomar’s, Spain. The B-52 was part of the United States Air Force’s Operation “Chrome Dome,” in which Strategic Air Command constantly flew bombers armed with thermonuclear weapons in order to provide the US with a first strike capability over the USSR in event of a “hot” confrontation.
What President Biden must be highlighting is the irresponsible nuclear strategy of India. India’s nuclear policies are motivated by regional threats, notably Pakistan but also increasingly China. In summary, India has a policy of no first use which it has failed to
follow, it continues to produce weapons grade fissile material, is estimated to have a growing arsenal of 160 warheads and is not a party to the NPT or the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). India is actively expanding its delivery capabilities.
It is worth noting that Pakistan has not had a single nuclear mishap since its inception. The president of the United States of America must have clearly forgotten the recently fired sophisticated missile into Pakistan on March 9, 2022 due to a so called “technical malfunction,” raising concerns about the safety of its nuclear weapons. It was a senseless violation of Pakistan’s airspace that could have endangered passenger flights and civilian lives. The missile was a nuclear-capable, land-attack Brahmos cruise missile jointly developed by Russia and India. The Brahmos has a range of 300 to 500 kilometers. The Indian government took 48 hours to officially confirm the misfire despite a 2005 agreement that requires each country’s defense ministry to give its counterpart at least 72 hours’ notice before conducting a ballistic missile flight test.
The incident raises questions not only about India’s operational safety procedures and controls, but also the extent to which its offensive strike missiles are deployed in a launch-ready condition. This also raises questions as to why the international community has not taken strict action against such violations.
According to documents found by Pakistan Initiative director Uzair Younus of the South Asia Center, the PTI’s USA chapter has hired a lobbying firm Fenton/Arlock LLC for a monthly salary of $25,000. In March 2022, the Pakistani Embassy in the United States hired the same company at a monthly rate of $30,000. PTI lobbying firm in USA is working successfully. The firm has brought Biden and PTI chairman Imran Khan on the same page against the Pakistan’s nuclear program. The owner of lobbying firm, David Fenton has always opposed Pakistans nuclear programme. He has been seeking denuclearization of Pakistan, and has written books on it. The statement by President Joe Biden is a direct outcome of Tehreek-e-Insaaf’s conspiracy against the state. Imran Khan and his party members must answer as to who the real traitor is?
Regardless of these baseless propaganda campaigns and petty politics, Pakistan, over the years has maintained its nuclear weapon security, though there is always room for improvement. Pakistani authorities have implemented a number of precautions to protect the nation’s nuclear resources since the nuclear tests conducted there in 1998. Conclusion is that – Pakistan is neither a state which lost its planes, while putting live nuclear weapons on them, nor Pakistan needs someone else’s help to protect its nuclear weapons. Pakistan isn’t a country which used nuclear bombs against a civilization, killing people in millions. Pakistan’s nuclear assets are 100 percent secure and there is no question of it falling into the hands of any fundamentalist.