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India, Pakistan exchange list of nuclear installations

newsnow9January 1, 202602 mins

New Delhi: Continuing an over three-decade practice, India and Pakistan on Thursday exchanged a list of their nuclear installations under a bilateral pact that prohibits the two sides from attacking each other’s atomic facilities.

The exchange of the list came even as the ties between the two countries remain under deep freeze following four-day military hostilities last May.

The list exchange took place under the provisions of an agreement on the prohibition of attack against nuclear installations and facilities, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.

The annual exchange has continued uninterrupted for over three decades, even during periods of heightened political and military tension between the two neighbours.

The Agreement on the Prohibition of Attack against Nuclear Installations and Facilities was signed on 31 December 1988 and entered into force on 27 January 1991, following the exchange of instruments of ratification by both sides.

Under the agreement, both India and Pakistan commit themselves to refrain from undertaking, encouraging or participating in any action aimed at causing destruction of, or damage to, nuclear installations or facilities in the other country.

The scope of the agreement is broad. Nuclear installations and facilities covered under the pact include nuclear power plants, research reactors, fuel fabrication units, uranium enrichment facilities, isotope separation plants, reprocessing units, and sites storing significant quantities of radioactive material, whether fresh or irradiated.