India-Pakistan Tension: Amid the social media chatter that India struck Pakistan’s nuclear facility in Kirana hills, Defence Minister of India Rajnath Singh questioned the safety of nuclear weapons of Pakistan while urging the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to supervise the lot. The IAEA, the global nuclear watchdog, on Thursday said there has been no radiation leak or release from any nuclear facility in Pakistan. Singh, who was visiting Jammu post the halt of military action between India and Pakistan, urged the IAEA to take charge of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons. Singh also asked if nuclear weapons are safe in the hands of an ‘irresponsible and rogue nation’ like Pakistan.
“Today, how strong is India’s resolve against terrorism can be known from the fact that we have not even cared about their nuclear blackmail. The whole world has seen how irresponsibly Pakistan has given nuclear threats to India many times. Today, from the land of Srinagar, I want to raise this question before the whole world that are nuclear weapons safe in the hands of such an irresponsible and rogue nation? I believe that Pakistan’s nuclear weapons should be taken under the supervision of IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency)” said Singh.
Hitting out at Pakistan, he further said, “As for Pakistan, what can I say to you about it. That country has reached such a state due to its ignorance of begging that it can be said about it that wherever Pakistan stands, the line of beggars starts from there. You must have heard how it once again went to the IMF to ask for a loan.”
The Defence Minister further said that India doesn’t want war. “The whole world knows about India that we have always given priority to peace. We have generally never been a supporter of war. But when the situation becomes so grave, when the sovereignty of the country is attacked, then it becomes necessary to respond,” he said.
The International Atomic Energy Agency is the world’s central intergovernmental forum for scientific and technical cooperation in the nuclear field. It works for the safe, secure and peaceful uses of nuclear science and technology, contributing to international peace and security and the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.
The Agency was set up as the world’s “Atoms for Peace” organisation within the United Nations family. From the beginning, it was given the mandate to work with its Member States and multiple partners worldwide to promote safe, secure and peaceful nuclear technologies. The objectives of the IAEA’s dual mission – to promote and control the Atom – are defined in Article II of the IAEA Statute.
Social media has recently been abuzz with speculations about a possible nuclear leak in Pakistan’s nuclear facility. However, on Monday, Air Marshal AK Bharti, while responding to a query during the press briefing, said that the Indian Armed Forces did not target Kirana Hills in Pakistan. When asked whether India had struck Kirana Hills, Air Marshal AK Bharti responded, “Thank you for telling us that Kirana Hills houses some nuclear installation, we did not know about it. We have not hit Kirana Hills, whatever is there.”
Notably, when the Principal Deputy Spokesperson of the US State Department, Tommy Piggot, was asked whether the US team has gone to Pakistan to investigate the nuclear radiation leak, he said that he has nothing to talk about at this time. (With ANI inputs)
