Pakistan breaks its silence on Donald Trump's claim on nuclear testing, says this about conducting tests

Pakistan has affirmed it wasn't the first to conduct nuclear tests and won't be the first to resume them in response to Donald Trump's claim of conducting secret nuclear tests. A senior Pakistani security official told CBS News that Islamabad will maintain its unilateral moratorium on nuclear testing and remains committed to restraint, despite not being a signatory to the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT).

Pakistan rejects Trump's claim on nuclear testing

“Pakistan was not the first to carry out nuclear tests and will not be the first to resume nuclear tests,” the official said. The statement comes after Trump's explosive claim during an interview on 60 Minutes in which he cited Pakistan, Russia, China, and North Korea's secret nuclear tests as a reason for the US to resume nuclear testing after a 33-year moratorium.

Earlier, Trump claimed that Pakistan is among the countries that have been actively testing nuclear weapons, citing it as part of a broader pattern among other states that necessitates the US resuming its own nuclear tests. In an interview with CBS News's 60 Minutes on Sunday, Trump said several countries, including Russia, China, North Korea, and Pakistan, are conducting nuclear tests, while the US remains the only nation that does not. 

"Russia's testing and China's testing, but they don't talk about it. We're an open society. We're different. We talk about it. We have to talk about it because otherwise you people are going to report. They don't have reporters that are going to be writing about it," Trump stated."We're going to test because they test and others test. And certainly North Korea's been testing. Pakistan's been testing," he added.

China recently denied Trump's claim

Even China recently denied Trump's claim that it is secretly conducting nuclear weapons tests, rejecting the allegation and calling it "completely false." Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said that Beijing maintains a self-defensive nuclear strategy and follows its moratorium on nuclear testing. "As a permanent member of the UN Security Council and a nuclear-weapon state, China adheres to a policy of no first use of nuclear weapons, maintains a self-defensive nuclear strategy and has honoured its commitment to suspend nuclear testing," Mao said, as quoted by Global Times. 

Meanwhile, Trump announced the immediate resumption of nuclear weapons testing, citing Russia's recent trials of advanced nuclear-capable systems, in what marks a major escalation between the two nuclear powers.

(With inputs from ANI)