Former NSA Shivshankar Menon said the defence minister did not have a right to voice his personal opinion on nuclear policy in public, particularly when that opinion contradicted the country's official policy.
Pakistan launched its nuclear weapons programme after its 1971 military defeat to India in order to 'augment its inferior conventional forces,' a Congressional report has said."Pakistan's nuclear energy programme dates back to the 1950s, but it was the loss of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) in a bloody war with India that probably triggered a political decision in January 1972 (just one month later) to begin a secret nuclear weapons programme," the Congressional report said.
The report said that Pakistan will retain its capabilities for the foreseeable future as a necessary deterrent against perceived existential threats from India.
India's second nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine was commissioned into the Navy on Thursday in the presence of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh who said this will further strengthen the country's nuclear triad and enhance nuclear deterrence.
'When human beings develop these dangerous toys and leave their control in the hands of aggressive megalomaniac politicians, the threat of a nuclear holocaust is always lurking on the horizon.'
The US president said new sanctions would be imposed, adding 'America will not be held hostage to nuclear blackmail'.
Congressional report estimated Pakistan's nuclear warheads to be between 110-130.
Expressing concern over the continuing buildup of nuclear weapons in South Asia, the United States has asked India and Pakistan to restrain their atomic and missile programmes and play a positive role in the global non-proliferation community.
After the terror attack on Mumbai in November last year exposed the vulnerability of the Indian coastline, Navy chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta on Wednesday said cargo containers could be used to transport nuclear weapons."We have to ensure 100 per cent security at ports by scanning them (containers) under X-ray machines. Every country has to accede to it that wherever, whichever port the container leaves from, that country certifies that this container is fully secure," he said.
Senator John Cornyn, Senate Majority Whip for the 114th Congress, in a letter to Obama, has said "it is ill-advised" to pursue any civil nuclear agreement with Pakistan.
India failed to extract the 'price' from Pakistan for its Kargil misadventure.
The price could have been military in terms of loss of territory/soldiers/equipment or destruction of terrorist training infrastructure. Giving a 'face saving' option to Pakistan proved disastrous for the future, asserts Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
'Pakistan has found itself in a favourable position after Operation Sindoor by appreciating the mediation as claimed by Trump and recommending him for the Nobel Peace Prize.'
The Quad grouping has called for bringing the perpetrators, organisers and financiers of the Pahalgam terror attack to justice without any delay and urged UN member nations to extend cooperation for it.
'When one air force (India's) hits the other's airbases with impunity and that air force (Pakistan's) is not able to respond, then the air force, which has put the other's airbases out of commission, has won.'
India is at war with terrorists and will bring justice to victims of the Pahalgam attack by holding the perpetrators accountable, Indian Ambassador to the US Vinay Kwatra has said. He underscored that India launched 'Operation Sindoor' on May 7, striking terror factories at nine locations in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in retaliation for the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 civilians. Kwatra also criticized Pakistan for its continued support of terrorism and said that the world should be concerned about this.
"We estimate that Pakistan now has a nuclear weapons stockpile of 130-140 warheads. This stockpile exceeds the projection made by the US Defense Intelligence Agency in 1999 that Pakistan by 2020 would have 60-80 warheads," said the report released last month.
North Korea will not use nuclear weapons against other nations unless its sovereignty is threatened, its leader Kim Jong-un has said.
A step away from nuclear weapons being used in conflicts, warns Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) intensified its campaign in Lebanon with targeted airstrikes on Hezbollah strongholds in Beirut, hitting key weapons depots and terror infrastructure overnight, according to a report by Times of Israel.
The new government must initiate a comprehensive review of India's nuclear weapons doctrine and posture. Ajai Shukla explains
The report put India's 'stored' nuclear warheads at 172 in January this year while the number for Pakistan was 170.
If the sales go through, they said in e-mails sent to the Senators, the sophisticated weapons might find their way into the hands of Taliban, Iraqi insurgents, Iranians and North Koreans.
He said Pakistan was working with the international community to ensure the security of its nuclear installations, which were always in safe hands.
Amid concerns that terrorists could obtain material related to nuclear weapons from Pakistan, a latest Congressional report has said that Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden had "sent emissaries to establish contact" with the maligned A Q Khan network.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the nation on Independence Day, focusing on economic growth, self-reliance, and national security. He emphasized manufacturing quality products at affordable prices, supporting farmers, and combating terrorism and infiltration.
In a Truth Social Post, Trump said, "This cannot continue. There will be either peace or there will be tragedy for Iran far greater than we have witnessed over the last eight days."
While advancements in biotechnology hold immense promise for health and innovation, they also come with significant risks if misused.
'The worst mistake India can make is not to take Musharraf seriously. That was the mistake India made in the eighties when our scientists kept telling our leaders that Pakistan's nuclear programme was ten years behind us.'
'He is not that crazy.' 'He is driven by a deep sense of Russian power have been diminished.'
'Imagine for a moment that the Coast Guard was unable to stop the vessel and it reached Porbandar with its cargo/personnel and targeted the event at which the prime minister was present,' says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
'What the Americans want is to destabilise Iran. For destabilising Iran, you need access. 'One access is through Iraq. The other access is through Pakistan.'
Pakistan on Monday said a media report about the United States secretly providing aid to the country to guard its nuclear weapons painted a "distorted and exaggerated" picture of Islamabad's efforts to ensure safety of its atomic arsenal.
'You don't need massive industry or huge energy resources.' 'You could start with just 3 or 4 people in a coffee shop and invent the world.'
'Pakistan has been successful in convincing the rest of the world that the Pakistani nuclear terrorists are meant to target only India. This is myopia at its worst,' says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
With intelligence inputs suggesting that terrorists were planning to attack India's nuclear installations, Army chief General Deepak Kapoor on Wednesday said Indian weapons were 'fully secure' and that there was no doubt about their safety. "As far as Indian nuclear weapons are concerned, I can assure you that whatever weapons we have, they are fully secure and there is no doubt about their safety," he told reporters.
Saudi Arabia's strategic review has UN and nuclear analysts worried, says 'The Guardian'
'Had Haji Pir and/or Skardu been taken, the message would have gone out not just to General Asim Munir and his cohort in the Pakistan army but to the Pakistani people that every terrorist incident in India would lead to substantial loss of territory in PoK.'
In response to a question about whether US citizens should be concerned about a nuclear war breaking out, Biden said "no."
President Barack Obama, in the coming years, will have to decide whether to deploy such weapons cutting the US reliance on nuclear weapons, the New York Times said in its report.
India has sought total elimination of nuclear arms backed by a security system in which states do not feel the need to develop, produce or stockpile them.
