Pakistan and India have agreed to extend their bilateral agreement on reducing the risk from accidents relating to nuclear weapons for the next five years [2017 to 2022], Foreign Office said on Tuesday. According to Foreign Office Spokesperson Nafees Zakaria, the proposal was extended by the government of Pakistan and India responded positively for extension in the bilateral agreement.
The agreement came into force in 2007 and it was subsequently extended for a period of five years in 2012. The spokesperson further said that the agreement constitutes a part of the Nuclear Confidence Building Measures (CBMs) agreed upon between Pakistan and India, adding it is aimed at promoting a stable environment of peace and security between the two countries.
He said that it is premised on the recognition that the nuclear dimension of the security environment of the two countries adds to their responsibility for avoidance of conflict. He further said that the agreement provides for immediate exchange of information between the two countries in the event of any accident relating to nuclear weapons, under their respective jurisdiction and control, which could create the risk of radioactive fallout, with adverse consequences for both sides, or create the risk of an outbreak of a nuclear war. "Pakistan believes in the need for both sides to stay engaged for strategic stability in South Asia," he emphasised.