Pakistan is rapidly adding N-arms says US

Pakistan is rapidly adding to its nuclear arsenal even while racked by insurgency, member of Congress have been told in confidential briefings, the New York Times reported on May 18. This raised questions on Capitol Hill about whether billions of dollars in proposed military aid might be diverted to Pakistan’s nuclear program, said the front page story filed by Thom Shanker and David E Sanger.

Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, confirmed the assessment of the expanded arsenal in a one-word answer to a question in the midst of lengthy Senate testimony, the report said.

Sitting beside Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, Mullen was asked whether he had seen evidence of an increase in the size of the Pakistani nuclear arsenal.

“Yes,” he said quickly but did not elaborate clearly cognizant of Pakistan’s sensitivity to any discussion about the country’s nuclear strategy or security.

Inside the Obama administration, Pakistan’s drive to spend heavily on new nuclear arms has been a source of growing concern, because the country is producing more nuclear material at a time when Washington is increasingly focused on trying to assure the security of an arsenal of 80 to 100 weapons so that they will never fall into the hands of Islamic insurgents, the daily said

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