- A senior Pakistani official claimed Pakistan will not resume nuclear tests first, responding to Trump's remark
- Trump alleged that Russia, China, North Korea, and Pakistan conduct secret tests
- Pakistan's last known nuclear test was in 1998
A senior Pakistani official has reaffirmed that Islamabad "will not be the first to resume nuclear tests", responding to US President Donald Trump's recent remark suggesting the South Asian country is secretly testing its nuclear weapons.
Speaking to CBS News, the Pakistani official said, "Pakistan was not the first to carry out nuclear tests and will not be the first to resume nuclear tests."
What Trump Said
Trump on Sunday alleged that countries, including Russia, China, North Korea and Pakistan, have conducted underground nuclear tests unknown to the public and that the United States would follow suit.
"Russia's testing, and China's testing, but they don't talk about it," he told CBS's "60 Minutes" programme.
"I don't want to be the only country that doesn't test," he said, adding North Korea and Pakistan to the list of nations allegedly testing their arsenals.
Pressed on the topic, Trump said, "They don't go and tell you about it... As powerful as they are, this is a big world. You don't necessarily know where they're testing. They test way underground, where people don't know exactly what's happening with the test. You feel a little bit of a vibration."
Last Known Nuclear Tests Across The World
The United States has been a signatory since 1996 to the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), which bans all atomic test explosions, whether for military or civilian purposes. The country conducted its last nuclear explosion in 1992.
No country other than North Korea is known to have conducted a nuclear detonation for decades. Russia and China have not carried out such tests since 1990 and 1996, respectively.
Pakistan's last known nuclear explosive test was in 1998, and since then, Islamabad has maintained that it observes a "unilateral moratorium on nuclear testing", despite not being a signatory to the international CTBT.
