26 January 2001
According to Pakistan's former Chief of Army Staff, General (Retd.) Mirza Aslam Beg, Pakistan concluded in 1989 that it had an adequate nuclear deterrent and did not need to increase it. Beg said, "we wanted a credible minimum deterrent and that deterrence is related to the very minimum number of devices that we needed and a very minimum capability to deliver those...and that we achieved in 1989 when Benazir Bhutto was prime minister and that is still the policy we follow."

Beg also claimed that Pakistan's nuclear arsenal was safe because "we [Pakistan] have a bomb-in-the-basement policy where not even a bomb is placed over there, not a device, but components are put together if needed...and then it is many miles away from the delivery system, that is, the missiles and aircraft...that by itself provides tremendous security, an in-built safety which is not understood by people who don't understand the real logic of our program or the restrictions we have imposed on ourselves."
--"Ex-Army Head: Pakistan Had Nuclear Arsenal in 1989" New York Times, 26 June 2001, http://www.nytimes.com.

27 January 2001
Pakistan's Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Abdul Aziz Mirza has said that if necessary Pakistan will deploy nuclear weapons on submarines.
--"Pakistan Navy Chief: "We Will Install Nuclear Arms on our Submarines, if Needed" Dawn (Karachi), FBIS Document: SAP20010127000053, 27.

13 March 2001
Pakistan's 300MW-Chashma nuclear power plant has stopped functioning because of a "technical fault." Nuclear scientists from China and the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission are trying to fix the fault, but for the time being the plant remains out of commission.
--"Pakistan's new nuclear plant develops 'technical fault,' shut down" Al-Akhbar (Islamabad), FBIS Document: SAP20010314000042, 13.

2 January 2002
India and Pakistan Monday exchanged information on their nuclear facilities, according to The Washington Post. Meanwhile, tensions loomed over the two countries as they each moved military forces toward their common border, according to reports. The exchange of nuclear facility data, which includes locations of nuclear installations, has been an annual practice since 1992, the Post reported. The exchange began under an agreement between the two countries that stipulated they would not attack each other's nuclear facilities in the event of war. The recent information swap is seen as an effort to reduce tensions between the two countries since an attack by Islamic militants on the Indian Parliament on Dec. 13.
--"India-Pakistan: Nuclear Facilities Data Exchanged"Washington Post, Jan. 2.

27 January 2002
In a message to Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee to mark India's Republic Day, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf sent his "sincere felicitations" and said Pakistan wanted good relations with its eastern neighbor. His message comes one day after India tested a nuclear-capable missile, a move condemned by Pakistan and described as "risky" by the European Union as it came at a time of high tensions.
--"Pakistan calls for peace after Indian missile test" CNN World http://archives.cnn.com
/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/south/01/26/
india.missile.pakistan/index.html.

29 January 2002
Pakistan has decided not to press criminal charges against two of its nuclear scientists whose reported contacts with Osama bin Laden stirred fears of nuclear terrorism, according to officials and a lawyer involved in the case.
--Pakistan to Forgo Charges Against 2 Nuclear Scientists; Ties to Bin Laden Suspected The Washington Post, January 30, 2002 by: Peter Baker and Kamran.

3 March 2002
Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi disputed a report in Sunday's Washington Post that identified Bashiruddin Mahmood as a past chairman of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission. Lodhi said Mahmood did not have the knowledge of or access to sensitive nuclear material. "He was a very junior official in our nuclear establishment and therefore would never have the kind of knowledge or capability to frankly share or impart to anybody," Lodhi said on CNN's "Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer." Pakistan has had no incidents of nuclear theft, leakage of nuclear material or unauthorized access to nuclear research, the ambassador said.
--"Scientist did not share secrets with al Qaeda, she says" CNN World
http://archives.cnn.com/2002/
WORLD/asiapcf/south/03/03/
gen.pakistan.nuclear/.

6 July 2002
If communications are disrupted during a war with India, Pakistan's nuclear missiles could be launched by army officers acting without central authority, according to senior British sources and critics of the country's nuclear programme. Officially, the control rests with President Pervez Musharraf who, apart from being head of government, is chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. But critics say that shortcomings in the command system mean that in the event of a crisis a brigadier or corps commander could have only a few minutes to decide whether to order a nuclear strike, risking Indian retaliation.
--"Finger on nuclear button is not Musharraf's" Telegraph, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/core/
Content/displayPrintable.jhtml?xml=/
news/2002/06/07/wkash107.xml&site=5&page=0.

15 August 2002
Pakistan will not allow U.N. monitors to inspect its nuclear facilities, President Pervez Musharraf said Thursday. In an interview with Russia's Izvestia newspaper, Musharraf also ruled out the possibility of a nuclear war between India and Pakistan. "Our nuclear facilities are fully secure and there's no need for inspection by U.N. experts," the official Associated Press of Pakistan news agency quoted him as saying.
--"Pakistan: No inspection of nuclear plants" United Press International, August 15, 2002.

19 October 2002
US intelligence officials have concluded that Pakistan, a vital ally since last year's terrorist attacks, was a major supplier of critical equipment for North Korea's newly revealed clandestine nuclear weapons program, current and former senior American officials said on Thursday. The equipment, which may include gas centrifuges used to create weapons-grade uranium, appears to have been part of a barter deal beginning in the late 1990s in which North Korea supplied Pakistan with missiles it could use to counter India's nuclear arsenal, the officials said.
--"Pakistan supplied nuclear technology to North Korea: US" The Taipei Times http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/
front/archives/2002/10/19/176249.

20 October 2002
Political changes will not affect Pakistan's nuclear policies as the country's forces will continue to control its nuclear weapons, a Pakistani minister told United Press International on Sunday. The minister's pledge follows U.S. intelligence reports that Pakistan helped North Korea build nuclear weapons. The reports have had an unsettling affect on Pakistan, where both government and opposition forces have been busy denying them.
--"Pakistan: No Change in Nuclear Policy" United Press International, October 20, 2002.

30 December 2002
Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf suggested Monday that he'd been prepared to use atomic weapons if neighbor India had invaded earlier this year when tensions peaked. But his government later backed off the assertion, saying he was not referring to the use of such weapons.
--"Pakistan Backs Off Nuclear Assertion" CBS News http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/
2002/12/30/world/main534641.shtml.

8 January 2003
The Pakistani government on Wednesday rebuked allegations that a top Pakistani nuclear scientist has helped North Korea and Iraq develop nuclear arms, saying Pakistan has a consistent and established record of safeguarding its nuclear technology. A U.S. newspaper last week quoted a senior aide of former U.S. President Bill Clinton as saying that the Pakistani scientist, A.Q. Khan, would top the list of people who had contributed in nuclear proliferation.
--"Pakistan Nuclear Scientist 1 8 0169 Pakistan rejects allegations over nuclear scientist" Kyodo World News Service, January 8, 2003.

3 April 2003
Serious, ongoing and potentially catastrophic problems in geopolitically important but politically weak Pakistan are getting too little attention from U.S. officials while Iraq remains America's primary foreign policy focus, according to think tank experts who follow South Asia.
--"Pakistan Still a Major Threat, Say Experts" United Press International, April 3, 2003.

6 May 2003
After 16 months of stony silence, interrupted by the near outbreak of war last June, India and Pakistan are suddenly making all the right moves to start peace talks. Monday, Pakistan raised the stakes by offering to get rid of its nuclear arsenal if India followed suit. The reasons for this spring warming trend - initiated by India - are still coming to light. But they range from the swift US victory in Iraq and mounting concern over nuclear proliferation and terrorism to a legacy quest by India's ailing prime minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee. Diplomats here say this may be the best chance in years to defuse tensions between two nuclear powers that have fought three wars in the past half century. "The most interesting thing about these peace moves is that they come when absolutely nothing is happening on the ground," says a Western diplomat who monitors the Kashmir dispute closely.
--Scott Baldauf and Amol Sharma, "India, Pakistan suddenly talk peace" The Christian Science Monitor.

7 July 2003
Pakistan President Gen. Pervez Musharraf insisted on Monday that his country's nuclear arsenal is under tight control and will not fall into the "wrong hands," after officials said that $3 billion in U.S. aid depends in part on Pakistan exporting no nuclear technology. "Pakistan will never proliferate," President Pervez Musharraf told scientists at a college near the capital Islamabad, the state-run news agency said. "Pakistan's nuclear potential is under very strong custodial control."
--"Musharraf says Pakistan will keep its nuclear arsenal from 'wrong hands' "AP Worldstream, July 7, 2003 by: MUNIR AHMAD, Associated Press Writer.

4 October 2003
Pakistan fired a surface-to-surface, nuclear-capable rocket on Friday in its first test in months, but it denied that the launch had anything to do with stalled peace talks with India.
--"Pakistan Tests Missile Able to Hit Sites in India" NYT October 4 2003.

2 November 2003
One man was killed and another injured on the weekend in a blast at a liquid nitrogen plant which is part of a nuclear research facility at Nilore, 25 km (16 miles) from the Pakistani capital, the state-run news agency said. The Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) said the explosion occurred at the Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences, an educational wing of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission. Officials have launched an investigation to determine the cause of the blast, the agency said. APP said no Pakistani nuclear facility had been affected. Pakistan has two nuclear power plants, one in the southern port city of Karachi and one in Mianwali, southern Punjab. It also has its own nuclear arsenal, as does arch-rival India.
--"Blast at Pakistan nuclear research site kills one" http://www.planetark.com/avantgo/
dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=19777.

23 December 2003
Pakistan said on Tuesday that rogue scientists driven by "ambition and greed" may have spread nuclear technology to Iran - Islamabad's most explicit acknowledgment of such help, prompted by questioning from the U.N. atomic watchdog. The admission, after months of denials, is the latest in a wave of nuclear disclosures, following revelations from Libya and Iran. Pakistan said it was cooperating with the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency after the agency's inspections of Iranian nuclear facilities showed that international and "Pakistani-linked individuals" had acted as "intermediaries and black marketeers."
--"Iranian disclosure prompts admission from Pakistan it may have rogue nuclear scientists" USA Today, http://www.usatoday.com/news/
world/2003-12-23-pakistan_x.htm.

24 December 2003
A lengthy investigation of the father of Pakistan's atomic bomb, Abdul Qadeer Khan, by U.S. and European intelligence agencies and international nuclear inspectors has forced Pakistani officials to question his aides and openly confront evidence that their country was the source of technology to enrich uranium for Iran, North Korea and other nations.
--"Pakistan backs off nuclear aid denials Senior official promises a broad inquiry on alleged help to Iran and North Korea" International Herald Tribune, December 24, 2003 by: William Broad, David Rohde and David E. Sanger.

29 January 2004
Pakistani investigators probing leaks of nuclear technology now believe that Abdul Qadeer Khan, known to his countrymen as "the father of the bomb," and a senior colleague, assisted Iran and Libya through an international network operating out of Dubai. An intelligence source said on condition of anonymity that while the identities of the nuclear traffickers are still being uncovered, "it is beyond any doubt that at least two Pakistani scientists constituted a major source of supply for the network."
--"Pakistan's nuclear salesmen are identified" San Francisco Chronicle, Juliette Terzieff.

2 February 2004
The man who founded Pakistan's nuclear program, Abdul Qadeer Khan, has confessed to transferring nuclear technology to North Korea, Iran and Libya. The government maintains it has not sanctioned the transfer of any nuclear secrets.
--"Pakistan nuclear hero 'confesses'" CNN World http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/
asiapcf/02/02/pakistan.nuclear/index.html.

4 February 2004
The United States is standing by key ally Pakistan after the father of its nuclear weapons program admitted he had shared nuclear secrets with other nations. White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Wednesday the United States will work closely with Pakistan to win the war on terrorism. "We appreciate their efforts to address what is a serious concern, which is proliferation of weapons of mass destruction."
--"U.S. stands by Pakistan" CNN World http://www.cnn.com/2004/
WORLD/asiapcf/02/04/pakistan.nuclear/.

7 February 2004
Pakistan's foreign minister said his country would cooperate fully with the U.N.'s atomic agency after the nation's top nuclear scientist admitted he gave weapons secrets to other countries.
--"Pakistan pledges IAEA cooperation" CNN World http://edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/asiapcf/02/07/pakistan.nuclear/.

18 February 2004
President Pervez Musharraf rejected any move to bring in foreign inspectors to monitor Pakistan's nuclear weapons or civil nuclear facilities after the father of the country's atomic bomb confessed this month to selling nuclear secrets to Libya, Iran and North Korea. "We are not interested in competing with India," Musharraf said in an interview in Wednesday's newspaper. But he said that in the next few weeks Pakistan would test-fire its Shaheen II missile, which has a range of 2,000 km (1,200 miles), making it capable of striking just about anywhere in India.
--"Pakistan: No nuke race with India" CNN World http://edition.cnn.com/2004/
WORLD/asiapcf/02/17/
nuclear.pakistan.reut/.

19 February 2004
"We do have before us now a sort of a basic road map for a Pakistan-India peace process to which we have both agreed," Pakistani Foreign Secretary Riaz Khokar said at a news conference after a two-hour meeting with his Indian counterpart, Shashank, who uses one name. "We hope this road map will eventually lead to the settlement of all outstanding disputes between India and Pakistan and in the direction of durable peace." Before the two leaders met, Indian officials had resisted reviving direct talks, accusing Pakistan of backing Islamic insurgents in the part of Kashmir that India controls. But India relented after [Pervez Musharraf] agreed to a joint statement pledging that he would "not permit any territory under Pakistan's control to be used to support terrorism in any manner." In an telephone interview Wednesday night from London, where he is traveling on official business, Pakistani Interior Minister Faisel Saleh Hayat said Jamaat ul-Dawa had not been banned "because there is no credible substantive evidence that it is indulging in activities against the interest of Pakistan or using Pakistan as a base to harm the interest of people or governments or countries outside" Pakistan.
--"Pakistan And India Agree to Peace Talks" The Washington Post - Washington, D.C. By: John Lancaster.

17 March 2004
The government told the National Assembly on Tuesday that Pakistan had come out 'clear' from the nuclear proliferation scandal and there was no question of rolling back its nuclear program. Responding to a call-attention notice from five PPP members during the morning sitting on a private members' day, Information Minister Shaikh Rashid Ahmed denied reports that IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) experts could inspect the country's nuclear programme.
--"Pakistan came out of N-crisis safely: No question of rollback, NA told" The Dawn By Amir Wasim http://www.dawn.com/2004/03/17/top1.htm.

6 May 2004
The United States and Pakistan have not struck a deal enabling Islamabad to go easy on the founder of Pakistan's nuclear program while ratcheting up its fight against al Qaeda in tribal regions, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf said Sunday.
--"No 'deal' on Pakistan nuke pardon" CNN World http://edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/asiapcf/03/28/
musharraf.nuclear/index.html.

21 June 1004
India and Pakistan agreed Sunday to set up a hotline between their foreign ministries to reduce the threat of accidental nuclear war, giving a small but helpful nudge to a nascent peace process that began with a meeting between their leaders in January. The announcement came at the end of two days of talks on nuclear confidence-building measures. Delegates from the two sides, who described the atmosphere surrounding the talks as friendly, also agreed to continue a moratorium on nuclear testing, except in what they termed "extraordinary" circumstances.
--"India, Pakistan to Set Up Hotline" Washington Post Foreign Service by John Lancaster.

2 July 2004
President Pervez Musharraf might have pardoned Mr Khan for selling nuclear technology but the scientist remains under de facto house arrest. Pakistani officials hinted that Mr Khan, 67, might stay in confinement for the rest of his life.
--"Bleak future for Pakistan's 'bomb hero'" Telegraph
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/
main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/02/07/
wpak07.xml&sSheet=/news/
2004/02/07/ixnewstop.html.

27 November 2004
Pakistan on Saturday defended its efforts to halt leaks of nuclear technology amid suggestions that a new CIA report says a renegade scientist provided more help to Iran's nuclear weapons program than previously disclosed. The CIA - which provides the U.S. Congress with six-month updates on reported efforts by Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea and Syria to obtain chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear weapons technology - posted an unclassified version on its Web site this week. Analyzing the report, The New York Times said it indicates that bomb-making designs provided by Abdul Qadeer Khan to Iran in the 1990s were more significant than Washington has said.
--"Pakistan downplays report on nuclear leaks to Iran, Libya" USA Today http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/
2004-11-27-pakistan-nuclear_x.htm.

10 March 2005
The Pakistani information minister admitted today that Abdul Qadeer Khan, the father of Pakistan's nuclear programme, gave nuclear technology to Iran, but insisted the government knew nothing of the transaction. It was the first time the Pakistani government admitted that Dr Khan actually gave material to Iran, though they have said in the past that his criminal group sold technology and blueprints to several countries. "Dr Abdul Qadeer gave some centrifuges to Iran," Sheikh Rashid Ahmed told the Associated Press in a telephone interview. "He helped Iran in his personal capacity, and the Pakistan government had nothing to do with it."
--"Pakistan admits nuclear expert traded with Iran" The Guardian http://www.guardian.co.uk/pakistan/
Story/0,2763,1434875,00.html.

9 April 2005
Dr Ishfaque Ahmed, special adviser to the prime minister on the strategic program, said on Friday that Pakistan would build more nuclear power plants after the Chashma Nuclear Power Plant Unit-2 (CHASNUPP-2) to achieve its target of generating 8,800mw by 2020. He was speaking at the ground-breaking ceremony of the Chashma-2project, which will be completed by 2011 at a cost of Rs51 billion. The project, with a gross production capacity of 340mw, will be jointly built by the China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) and the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) under the monitoring of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
--"Pakistan to build more N-power plants: Ground-breaking of Chashma-2" The Dawn By Sher Baz Khan http://www.dawn.com/2005/
04/09/top1.htm.

10 April 2005
Pakistan will be holding talks with the Nuclear Suppliers Group on Monday as a "nuclear weapon state." Quoting Foreign Ministry spokesman Jalil Abbas Jilani the report says that the visit of the NSG delegation will provide an opportunity to Pakistan to explain the steps taken by Pakistan for the establishment of export control regime for sensitive materials and technologies.
--"Talks between Pakistan, Nuclear Supplier Group tomorrow" Pakistan Times http://pakistantimes.net/2005/
04/10/top2.htm.

5 August 2005
India and Pakistan have started a fresh round of talks aimed at building trust on military issues and avoiding an accidental nuclear war, officials said. The two sides hope to finalize an agreement to notify each other ahead of missile tests and upgrade an existing hotline to reduce risks of nuclear accidents, an Indian foreign ministry spokesman said.
--"India, Pakistan resume talks on nuclear issues" AFX News Limited http://www.forbes.com/business/
feeds/afx/2005/08/05/afx2174420.html.

11 August 2005
Pakistan successfully test-fired its first cruise missile on the 62nd birthday of President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, who hailed Thursday's launch as a move toward "military balance" in the region. Archrival India declined to comment on the test of the Babur missile, which has a range of 310 miles and is capable of carrying nuclear and conventional warheads. Pakistan fired the missile from an undisclosed location without notifying India - just days after the two governments formalized an agreement on telling each other in advance about missile tests.
--"Pakistan test fires nuclear-capable cruise missile" USA Today http://www.usatoday.com/news/
world/2005-08-11-pakistan-missile_x.htm.

25 August 2005
Pakistan's president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, confirmed for the first time that a Pakistani nuclear scientist had provided North Korea with centrifuge machines that could be used to make fuel for an atomic bomb, a Japanese news agency reported. In an interview Tuesday with Kyodo News, Musharraf said the former head of his country's nuclear program, Abdul Qadeer Khan, had sent "centrifuges - parts and complete" to North Korea. The Pakistani leader did not divulge the number of centrifuges that had arrived in North Korea, saying, "I do not exactly remember the number." Musharraf also said Khan might have sent North Korea uranium hexafluoride, which can be enriched in centrifuges and then processed into fuel for civilian nuclear reactors or atomic warheads.
--"Pakistan admits scientist gave North Korea nuclear tools"
San Francisco Chronicle, http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/
article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/
08/25/MNG71ECO571.DTL.

8 September 2005
Pakistan should have the same access to U.S. civilian nuclear technology that President Bush has proposed for India, the Pakistani ambassador to the United States says. Jehangir Karamat, Pakistan's former army chief, also warned that "the balance of power in South Asia should not become so tilted in India's favor, as a result of the U.S. relationship with India, that Pakistan has to start taking extraordinary measures to ensure a capability for deterrence and defense." The Bush administration is working to persuade Congress to approve a deal that would ship civilian nuclear technology to India. In return, New Delhi would have to place its civilian facilities under safeguards of the United Nations' nuclear watchdog agency. On Thursday, two undersecretaries of state, Nicholas Burns and Robert Joseph, were to testify before a House International Relations Committee hearing on the India-U.S. nuclear agreement. Critics, however, contend that Pakistan's is a different case from India's. A.Q. Khan, a national hero known as the father of Pakistan's bomb, ran a network smuggling nuclear weapons technology.
--"Pakistan wants civilian nuke deal, ambassador says" USA Today http://www.usatoday.com/news/
washington/2005-09-08-pakistan
civiliannuclear_x.htm.

28 December 2005
Pakistan began construction today of a second nuclear power station with China's help at Chashma in Punjab province. Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz launched work on the 325-megawatt power plant, a twin to an adjacent station of the same capacity already in service since 2000. 'Today's concrete-pouring ceremony of Chashma-2 marks yet another landmark in Pakistan-China relations and a milestone in the history of nuclear technology in Pakistan,' Aziz told a gathering of senior Chinese and Pakistani officials. The 850 mln usd project is expected to start production in 2011, a Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission spokesman told Agence France-Presse.
--"Pakistan starts work on second nuclear power plant with China's help"
AFX News Limited, http://www.forbes.com/markets/
feeds/afx/2005/12/28/
afx2416856.html.

3 January 2006
Pakistan has denied a report it is in talks to buy between six and eight nuclear reactors from China in a deal worth up to $10bn (£5.8bn). Britain's Financial Times newspaper quoted an official saying construction could begin in 2015 and take 10 years. Such a deal would add more than 4,000 megawatts of electricity to Pakistan's national grid, the paper said. But a spokeswoman said that while Pakistan was considering more nuclear energy, the FT report was "baseless".
--"Pakistan denies new reactor plan" BBC
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/
south_asia/4577044.stm.

30 April 2006
A top Pakistani nuclear official detained nearly two years ago in a probe into a proliferation network run by disgraced scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan had been freed, a military spokesman said. Mohammed Farooq, who worked as director general of the country's main nuclear enrichment facility, Khan Research Laboratories, was freed last week, chief military spokesman Major General Shaukat Sultan told Agence France-Presse.
--"Pakistani nuclear official freed" AFX News Limited http://www.forbes.com/work/feeds/
afx/2006/04/30/afx2708833.html.

24 July 2006
The White House on Monday sought to discourage Pakistan from expanding its nuclear weapons program after a published report that it was building a powerful new reactor that could generate plutonium for 40 to 50 nuclear bombs a year.
--"Report: Pakistan working on big increase in nuclear weapons" USA Today http://www.usatoday.com/news/
world/2006-07-24-pakistan-nuclear_x.htm.

15 November 2006
India and Pakistan agreed on measures to combat terrorism and prevent an accidental nuclear conflict in South Asia at the first peace talks since a terrorist attack on Mumbai's train network in July, Pakistan's foreign secretary said Wednesday. Blaming the attack - which killed more than 200 people - on militants based in Pakistan, and on Islamabad's intelligence service, India put the talks on hold. The key to resumption was a deal to create what was described as an "anti-terrorism mechanism" that could help the historic rivals work together to halt attacks like those in Mumbai. Pakistani Foreign Secretary Riaz Mohammed Khan told reporters that, at talks that began Tuesday, he and Indian Foreign Secretary Shiv Shanker Menon had agreed to set up a three-member commission to exchange information on terror threats. A Foreign Ministry official from each side is to work with the group, he said.
--"India and Pakistan agree on anti-terror, nuclear safety measures" USA Today http://www.usatoday.com/news/
world/2006-11-15-india-pakistan_x.htm.

16 November 2006
Pakistan said it successfully test-fired a new version of its nuclear-capable medium-range missile Thursday, a show of power a day after peace talks with India that were criticized by domestic hard-liners. The North Korean-designed Ghauri missile, also known as the Hatf 5, was launched to mark the end of military exercises at an undisclosed location, an army statement said. The missile with a range of 800 miles could easily strike deep into neighboring India, Pakistan's nuclear-armed foe.
--"Pakistan Tests Nuclear-Capable Missile" Washington Post http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/
content/article/2006/11/16/
AR2006111600136.html.

26 December 2006
Pakistan: Iran has the right to pursue nuclear technology for peaceful purposes, Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said Tuesday, opposing U.N. sanctions against the Middle East nation for its refusal to halt uranium enrichment. "Pakistan had never been in favor of sanctions against Iran," Foreign Secretary Riaz Mohammed Khan said. "We always emphasized that there ought to be a diplomatic solution of the Iranian nuclear issue." Khan's comments came after the U.N. Security Council unanimously approved a resolution on Saturday to bar countries from supplying Iran with materials and technology that could contribute to its nuclear and missile programs.
--"Pakistan says Iran has right to nuclear technology for peaceful purposes" International Herald Tribune,
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap
/2006/12/26/asia/
AS_GEN_Pakistan_Iran_Nuclear.php.

15 January 2007
Police in north-west Pakistan say they have foiled a bid to abduct six officials working for the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC). According to local sources, at least 20 armed men raided the PAEC office in the village of Banda Daud Shah in Karak district on Sunday night. The kidnappers took the officials hostage and set off with them towards the Orakzai agency in the nearby tribal areas. However, they were stopped at the checkpoint after exchanging gunfire with security forces. All the hostages were freed.
--"Pakistan 'nuclear' kidnap foiled" BBC World http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/6264173.stm.

31 January 2007
Pakistan plans to join the Nuclear Suppliers Group, a 45-nation body that sets guidelines for trading nuclear materials and technology, the Pakistani Daily Times reported yesterday (see GSN, Mar. 21, 2006). The goal was described in a report of a government planning commission, which did not address a major possible stumbling block: Pakistan's refusal to sign the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.
--"Pakistan Aims to Join Nuclear Suppliers Group" Global Security Newswire http://www.nti.org/d_newswire/issues/
2007/1/31/4d82329a-9bc2-
41e0-984a-c56209515e65.html.

3 July 2007
A Pakistani official yesterday dismissed reports that Abdul Qadeer Khan, former head of the nation's nuclear program and a global nuclear trafficking ring, had been released from house arrest, United Press International reported (see GSN, July 2). "There is no change in Khan's status," said Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam, according to the Voice of America. "He continues to lead a quiet life with his family," she added.
--"Pakistan Denies Ending Khan's House Arrest" Global Security Newswire http://www.nti.org/d_newswire/
issues/2007/7/3/c0664131-27da-
4582-a50a-d2c45c19bc5e.html.

24 August 2007
Pakistan plans to build a new uranium enrichment complex that would be dedicated to producing fuel for the nation's domestic nuclear power program, the Press Trust of India reported yesterday (see GSN, April 11, 2006). The Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission would allow international inspectors to monitor the centrifuge facility slated to be erected in Kundian. The facility would enrich uranium to contain 3 percent of the uranium 235 isotope, a standard level for light-water reactor fuel, according to PTI.
--"Pakistan to Add Nuclear Fuel Complex" Global Security Newswire. http://www.nti.org/d_newswire/
issues/2007/8/24/9488bdb7-08fe-
4889-a4cc-8e8e60f15ac7.html.

31 October 2007
Pakistan on Monday called on the international community to evolve "a new consensus on disarmament and non-proliferation, which would encompass the new framework for the peaceful uses of nuclear energy". Addressing the UN General Assembly session convened to consider the "Report of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)," Pakistan's Ambassador to the United Nations Munir Akram said: "We hope the UN Secretary-General will consider convening an international conference or a special session of the General Assembly, to evolve such a new consensus".
--"Pakistan calls for consensus on NPT" Dawn by Masood Haider, http://www.dawn.com/2007/10/31/
top12.htm.

8 November 2007
Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf declared a state of emergency Saturday and suspended the constitution after it appeared the nation's highest court might invalidate his recent election. His move resulted in waves of protests led by lawyers. Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, who recently returned to the country after several years in exile, also yesterday expressed concern that nuclear weapons might fall into extremists' hands, Agence France-Presse reported (Agence France-Presse/Spacewar.com, Nov. 7). U.S. intelligence agencies are studying the potential for a nuclear weapon or fissile material to go missing amidst the chaos in Pakistan, the Los Angeles Times reported today.
--"Pakistani Nuclear Security Eyed by U.S." Global Security Newswire http://www.nti.org/d_newswire/issues/
2007_11_8.html#03EC867B.

November 13, 2007
The Pakistan government refuted reports in the international media that questioned the security of its nuclear weapons. According to a foreign ministry spokesman in Islamabad, since 1998, Pakistan's nuclear weapons have been under firm multilayered institutional control with the appropriate organizational and administrative entities in place. Reacting to reports of external contingency plans, he also stated that Pakistan has sufficient retaliatory capability to defend its strategic program and sovereignty.
--"Pakistan has 'retaliatory capacity' to defend 'strategic assets' - spokesman," BBC Monitoring South Asia - Political, Lexis-Nexis.

November 20, 2007
The Pakistan government has confirmed reports of cooperation with the United States on securing Islamabad's nuclear weapons. But it has insisted that this cooperation has involved training activities and interactions to help strengthen surveillance programs. Equipment transferred to Pakistan has been termed as basic and is reportedly meant for tracing nuclear materials and to forestall any illicit transfers of these materials. Islamabad has insisted that the security of its nuclear assets is given top priority and that it is important for the most effective practices to be employed.
--" Pakistan Foreign Office source confirms US help in guarding nuclear weapons," BBC Monitoring South Asia - Political, Lexis-Nexis.

December 11, 2007
According to sources, China may provide Pakistan with five additional nuclear power plants, each with a capacity of 300-1000 megawatt. According to Western diplomats, Beijing has already agreed to give Islamabad 300-MW nuclear power plants as part of Chashma nuclear power project-I and II, and may also transfer two additional plants of the same capacity for phase III and IV of the Chashma project.
--"China may give five more N-power plants to Pakistan," Pakistan Tribune, December 11, 2007, http://www.paktribune.com/news/index.shtml?
195414.

December 12, 2007
Two plutonium-based nuclear reactors near Khushab (Punjab) will be completed by 2009. The reactors will manufacture adequate material for military purposes, and are deemed too small for commercial purposes.
--Farhan Bokhari, "Pakistan remains on course to reach nuclear target by 2009," Jane's Defence Weekly, December 12, 2007, Lexis-Nexis.

December 14, 2007
Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has issued an ordinance that provides a legal basis for the National Command Authority (NCA), the top decision-making body for the country's nuclear weapons program. The NCA has been in existence since 1999. The ordinance has to be ratified by the national assembly in the next six months. The ordinance formalized the president as head of the NCA.
--Zafar Nawaz Jaspal, "NCA Ordinance: Debate Awaited," Weekly Pulse, December 21, 2007, http://www.weeklypulse.org/pulse/article/1072.html; "Musharraf Assumes Nuclear Control," BBC News, December 14, 2007, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/
south_asia/7144710.stm.

December 15, 2007
The National Command Authority, the top decision-making body on Pakistan's nuclear weapons met today and reiterated once again that it was capable of defending the country against any 'misadventure.' The NCA took into account concerns in the international media regarding the security of Pakistan's nuclear weapons. The meeting also reviewed various projects related to Pakistan's nuclear capability and endorsed proposals for bolstering the country's deterrent capability.
--"Pakistan command authority says security 'foolproof'," BBC Monitoring South Asia - Political, Lexis-Nexis.

January 1, 2008
The Pakistani and Indian governments exchanged lists of nuclear facilities under Article-II of the "Agreement on Prohibition of Attacks Against Nuclear Installations and Facilities" between the two countries of 31 December 1988.
--"Pakistan, India exchange nuclear installations' lists," BBC Monitoring South Asia - Political, Lexis-Nexis.

January 10, 2008
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Dr. Mohammed El-Baradei has warned that instability and the political crisis in Pakistan could be exploited by Al Qaida to seize the country's nuclear weapons. In Islamabad, Pakistani government officials have rejected these concerns saying that there are no credible threats to the country's nuclear arsenal.
--Bruce Loudon, "UN fears for Pakistan nuke arsenal," The Australian, http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/ story/0,25197,23029526-2703,00.html.

January 27, 2008
A top Pakistani official, identified later as Lt. Gen. Khalid Kidwai, in charge of Pakistan's nuclear weapons, has stated that the country's nuclear arsenal remains secure and has dismissed fears over the safety of these weapons and materials. Kidwai refuted the possibility of militant groups gaining access to Pakistan's nuclear devices. "We are conscious of this threat," he said. "As the military, we should be prepared for worst contingencies." However, he said that an attack by Islamic extremists on Pakistan's nuclear facilities was impossible, and if such an attack did take place, "it will be pre-empted through intelligence or we will be able to minimize the damage." At the same time he said that the "security alertness" around the nuclear program had gone up.
--Salman Masood, "Nuclear Arsenal Remains Secure, General Asserts," The New York Times, January 27, 2008, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/27/world/
asia/27nuke.html.

February 6, 2008
According to the Secretary General of Pakistan Muslim League-Q, Mushahid Hussain, nuclear scientist Dr. A.Q. Khan might be released after the national assembly election later this month. He said that, "I have all the hope that Dr Qadeer will be released after the elections and his rightful place in society will also be restored."
--"Pakistan leader predicts release of controversial nuclear scientist after poll," The News, February 4, 2008, BBC Monitoring South Asia - Political, Lexis-Nexis.

February 7, 2008
The head of Pakistan's Strategic Plans Division has stated that there is no ban on anyone meeting Dr. A.Q. Khan. The only condition is that Khan should consent to the meeting, according to Lt. Gen. Khalid Kidwai. He did not comment on the statement by Pakistan Muslim League-Q secretary general Mushahid Hussain that Khan would be freed after the national assembly election. Kidwai stated that there was no change in Khan's status.
--Saleh Zaafar, "Anyone Whom Dr Qadeer Wants To Meet Can See Him; His Status Not Being Changed: General Qidwai," Jang, February 7, 2008, BBC Monitoring South Asia - Political, Lexis-Nexis.

February 12, 2008
Two technicians of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission have been kidnapped by masked gunmen in Dera Ismail Khan district of North West Frontier Province, which borders Afghanistan. The local police chief stated that they did not know whether the kidnapping was carried out by militants or criminals. The technicians were on a project to map mineral deposits in the mountains.
--"Pakistan Nuclear Staff Go Missing," BBC News, February 12, 2008, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7240414.stm.

February 20, 2008
US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen has stated that Islamabad's nuclear weapons are under protection of adequate safeguards to prevent militants from gaining access to the devices. His visit to Islamabad also involved briefings on safety and security procedures.
--Farhan Bokhari, "Pakistan's Weapons Are Secure, Declares Mullen," Jane's Defence Weekly, Lexis-Nexis.

February 24, 2008
According to Stanford University Professor Siegfried Hecker, North Korea has denied receiving any assistance in nuclear weapons technology from Dr. A.Q. Khan. In meetings with Hecker, Pyongyang dismissed Khan's confession in 2004 that he had transferred nuclear technology to North Korea. Pyongyang has insisted that there have been no dealings between North Korea and Pakistan on uranium enrichment technology.
--"A.Q. Khan did not transfer technology, say North Koreans, Dawn, February 24, 2008, http://www.dawn.com/2008/02/
24/top7.htm.

March 4, 2008
According to the Pakistan Nuclear Regulatory Authority (PNRA), Pakistan is safe from the effects of harmful radioactive rays. PNRA Advisory Committee Chairman Dr Iqbal Hussain Qureshi stated that the organization had launched a campaign to make people aware of radioactive rays and preventive measures to combat their negative effects, even as Pakistan is moving toward installing more nuclear power facilities by 2030.
--"Pakistan is safe from hazards of radioactive rays: Experts," The Daily Times, March 4, 2008, http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/
default.asp?page=2008%5C03%5C04%5Cstory_
4-3-2008_pg7_43.

	Updated March 2008