ISLAMABAD: The United States-based Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) has ranked Pakistan as the “most improved among countries with materials” in its Nuclear Security Index 2020 report published on Wednesday.
Pakistan began a program to obtain nuclear weapons after a war with arch-rival and neighboring India in 1971. It tested nuclear weapons in May 1998, shortly after India announced it had done so.
“Most improved among countries with materials in 2020 is Pakistan, which improved its overall score by adopting new on-site physical protection and cybersecurity regulations, improving insider threat protection measures, and more,” the NTI index said.
Pakistan had improved its overall score, the index report said, by adopting "new on-site physical protection and cybersecurity regulations, improving insider threat protection measures, and more."
“Pakistan’s score improvement for regulatory measures is the second largest improvement for regulations in the Index since 2012,” the report said.
Pakistan and India both faced international sanctions as a result of conducting nuclear tests in 1998, although India has since won effective recognition as a nuclear power following an accord negotiated with the United States.
In February this year, at the third International Conference on Nuclear Security (ICONS) organized by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna, Pakistan said it had established a comprehensive and effective national nuclear security regime at par with international standards and guidelines.
“The regime is based on an extensive legislative and regulatory framework governing the security of nuclear materials, radioactive substances, associated facilities and activities,” Pakistan’s foreign ministry had said in a statement.
Neither India or Pakistan have signed the international Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, adhered to by most nuclear powers. Consequently, they are not obliged to submit to International Atomic Energy Agency oversight over all of their facilities.
Pakistan ranked 'most improved country' in new Nuclear Security Index
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Pakistan ranked 'most improved country' in new Nuclear Security Index
- US-based Nuclear Threat Initiative says Pakistan's score improvement second largest improvement for regulations since 2012
- Pakistan improved overall score through several measures like new on-site physical protection, cybersecurity regulations
Pakistanis among 44 migrants rescued by aid ship off Libyan coast
- Survivors rescued after days at sea on unseaworthy boat in international waters
- Pakistanis have featured in several deadly Mediterranean migrant disasters in recent years
Crew members of the humanitarian rescue ship Ocean Viking evacuated and provided first aid to 44 migrants stranded aboard a merchant vessel in international waters off the Libyan coast, the NGO SOS Mediterranee said on Monday.
The group, originating mainly from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Egypt, had been rescued earlier from an unseaworthy fiberglass boat and later transferred to the merchant ship before the Ocean Viking intervened, according to the organization.
Libya, about 300 kilometers from Italy, remains one of the main departure points in North Africa for migrants attempting the dangerous Mediterranean crossing, despite repeated warnings from humanitarian agencies about abuse, exploitation and high fatality rates along the route.
Migrants often depart Libya after months in detention centers or informal holding sites, boarding overcrowded and unsafe vessels operated by smuggling networks. Delays in rescue frequently leave survivors severely weakened, aid groups say.
“These 44 people, they are mainly from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Egypt. They departed reportedly from Benghazi (Libya) some five or six days ago. And they are now safe on board the Ocean Viking, recovering,” Francesco Creazzo, spokesperson for SOS Mediterranee, said.
Creazzo said the migrants were found in severe physical distress when evacuated.
“They were exhausted, coughing of dehydration, extremely weak, some couldn’t walk,” he added.
The Ocean Viking, an ambulance ship operated by SOS Mediterranee, regularly conducts search-and-rescue missions in the central Mediterranean, one of the world’s deadliest migration routes. According to international organizations, thousands of people have died or gone missing in the Mediterranean over the past decade while attempting to reach Europe.
The latest rescue comes amid a series of deadly migrant disasters in the Mediterranean in recent years that have involved Pakistani nationals. In June 2023, at least several hundred migrants died when the Adriana, a fishing trawler carrying migrants from Pakistan and other countries, capsized off the coast of Greece in one of the deadliest maritime disasters in the region in a decade.
Earlier incidents have also seen Pakistani migrants perish in shipwrecks off Italy, Tunisia and Libya, highlighting the persistent risks faced by people attempting irregular sea crossings to Europe. Pakistani authorities have repeatedly urged citizens not to undertake the journey, while international agencies warn that smugglers continue to exploit economic hardship and conflict to lure migrants onto unsafe boats.
