India on Friday said it has taken note of US President Donald Trump’s comment on Pakistan’s nuclear testing, asserting that “clandestine and illegal nuclear activities are in keeping with Pakistan’s history”.
“That is centered around decades of smuggling, export control violations, secret partnerships, AQ Khan network and further proliferation,” Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) official spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said during a weekly press briefing.
Jaiswal further stated that India has always drawn the attention of the international community to these aspects of Pakistan’s record, adding, “In this backdrop, we have taken note of President Trump’s comment about Pakistan’s nuclear testing.”
The Indian government’s response came days after Trump claimed that Pakistan was among a host of nations that are conducting nuclear tests.
In his CBS News’s ’60 Minutes’ interview, Trump claimed that Russia, China, North Korea, and Pakistan were among the countries that have been carrying out nuclear tests, something that has now prompted the US to resume its own nuclear testing as well.
“We’re going to test because they (Russia and China) test and others test. And certainly, North Korea’s been testing. Pakistan’s been testing,” Trump had said.
However, Pakistan has reportedly denied testing nuclear weapons. According to CBS News, a senior Pakistani official said that Islamabad was not the first to carry out nuclear tests and it won’t be the first to resume these tests.