Pakistan Reiterates Pledge to Not Resume Testing


According to a June 3 joint statement by U.S. and Pakistan at the seventh round of the U.S.-Pakistan Security, Strategic Stability, and Nonproliferation (SSS&NP) Working Group, Pakistan reaffirmed its support for Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) related resolutions in the United Nations General Assembly, and confirmed the stance that Pakistan will not be the first nation in the region to conduct a nuclear test.

To date, Pakistan has conducted two nuclear tests, on May 28 and May 30, 1998. Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif later affirmed that the tests had been carried out in reaction to India’s nuclear tests earlier that month.

Neither Pakistan nor India is a signatory of the CTBT, although Pakistan does host two dedicated International Monitoring System stations that are not yet operational.

The SSS&NP working group took place in Washington, D.C. on June 2 and was co-chaired by U.S. Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Rose Gottemoeller and Pakistani Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry. The full joint statement is available here.