Pakistan increasing nukes, says US

French President Nicolas Sarkozy (L) bids farewell to Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari after a meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris yesterday. Zardari visits his French counterpart as his soldiers are engaged in fierce battles with Taliban militants.Photo: AFP

The chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, has confirmed reports that Pakistan is increasing its nuclear weapons programme, but has provided no details.
The confirmation came during a Senate Armed Services committee hearing Thursday when Democrat senator Jim Webb, an expert on defence issues, raised fears that Pakistan is adding to the nuclear weapons it traditionally has pointed toward India, and questioned whether US aid could be funding it.
Noting reports that Pakistan 'may be actually adding on their weapon systems and warheads' Webb asked: 'Do you have any evidence of that?'
'Yes,' Mullen answered.
Webb said that is a cause for "enormous concern," because with the militant threat, he said, Pakistan's government is not very stable.
The US has urged Pakistan to focus on the extremist threat instead of India. But Mullen told senators that it's still unclear that Pakistani leaders can shift their focus for a long period even as they slowly acknowledge that militants pose more of a security risk.
"Historically, they haven't done that," Mullen said. "So right now, I'm encouraged by what's happened, but I certainly withhold any judgment about where it goes because of the historic lack of sustainment, and they know they need to do that."