ISLAMABAD – A recent index on worldwide nuclear materials security for 2023 has positively benchmarked Pakistan as the country improved its overall score.
The NTI Nuclear Security Index ranks the nuclear security capabilities of countries and efforts based on a set of indicators and criteria like the security of nuclear materials and facilities, as Islamabad follows international norms and treaties for nuclear security, and follows top practices to prevent unauthorized access to nuclear weapons or materials.
NTI, an international nonprofit security organization focused on reducing nuclear threats remained active for more than two decades, and in its latest assessment, the Nuclear Security Index shows Pakistan’s improvements.
Pakistan got a total score of 49 – higher than its archrival India, which got 40, while western neighbor Iran got 29, and North Korea achieved poor and got 18.
Nuclear Security Index ranked Pakistan at 32 along with Kremlin and TelAviv in terms of the security of its nuclear facilities and was above New Delhi, Tehran, and Mexico, on a list of 47 nations.
The US-based organisation however expressed worry over global nuclear security which it said was worsening as compared to previous years.
It mentioned that nuclear security conditions are moving down in several countries. It mentioned that at least 8 nations including Pakistan, France, India, Iran, Israel, North Korea, Russia, and the UK have increased stocks of nuclear materials.
Islamabad remains committed to the objective of nuclear security and has been in talks with the international community to promote nuclear safety. The country has a well-developed nuclear infrastructure that has been assisted variously by foreign countries.
IAEA also praised Pakistan’s safety standards as the state has deployed state of art technological solutions and the country follows the trend of information sharing in the nuclear domain.
