Islamabad (TDI): Pakistan on Thursday urged the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to probe the “nuclear black market” in India and repeated incidents of theft and illicit trafficking of radioactive material, as it rejected a call by India’s defense minister for the nuclear watchdog to monitor Islamabad’s nuclear program.
Citing several incidents of radioactive material theft and other security breaches in India, the Foreign Office stressed Pakistan’s call for a comprehensive investigation and urged India to strengthen the safety and security of its nuclear facilities and arsenal.
The statement added that the IAEA and the global community should be alarmed by the repeated cases of theft and illicit trafficking of nuclear and radioactive materials in India.
The Foreign Office was responding to comments made by Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh during a speech to Indian forces in Srinagar, in which he stated, “I believe that Pakistan’s nuclear weapons should be taken under the the IAEA supervision.”
Singh’s remarks came days just days after Pakistan and India, both nuclear-armed nations, deescalated their most intense military standoff in nearly three decades following the Pahalgam incident, a militant assault that India blamed on Pakistan-based groups with providing any evidence.
The Foreign Office said that Singh’s remarks reveal his profound insecurity and frustration regarding Pakistan’s exemplary defense and deterrence against Indian aggression through conventional means, adding that Pakistan’s conventional capabilities are adequate to deter India, without the self-imposed “nuclear blackmail” that New Delhi suffers.
The statement also criticized Singh’s comments as ignorant of the IAEA role and mandate, a Vienna-based UN agency tasked with verifying that nuclear programs remain peaceful. India’s civilian nuclear facilities fall under IAEA safeguards as part of a 2008 deal, however, its strategic nuclear program remains outside the agency’s oversight.
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Citing recent incidents in India, the Foreign Office recalled that 5 individuals were reportedly caught in the Indian city of Dehradun in 2024 with a radioactive device allegedly stolen from the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre. In another incident, a gang was found in possession of Californium — a highly radioactive and rare element estimated to be worth over $100 million. Three separate incidents of Californium theft were also reported in 2021.
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The Foreign Offices stated that these repeated incidents raise serious concerns about the measures India has taken to secure nuclear and radioactive material. They also point to the presence of a black market for sensitive, dual-use substances within the country.
