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Opposed

Pakistan

Nuclear-armed state

Pakistan has the world's sixth largest nuclear arsenal. In 2022, it again demonstrated that it lacks the will purposefully to pursue nuclear disarmament. It remained unwilling to adhere to or engage constructively with the TPNW.

TPNW Status

SIGNATURE
DEPOSIT WITH UNSG
ENTRY INTO FORCE
DECLARATION
Nuclear warhead inventory at the beginning of 2023
Total inventory of warheads 170
Retired warheads 0
Stockpiled warheads 170
Estimated yield (MT) 3.4
Hiroshima-bomb equivalents 226
TPNW Article 1(1) prohibitions: Compatibility in 2022
(a) Develop, produce, manufacture, acquire Not compatible
Test Compatible
Possess or stockpile Not compatible
(b) Transfer Compatible
(c) Receive transfer or control Compatible
(d) Use Compatible
Threaten to use Compatible
(e) Assist, encourage or induce Compatible
(f) Seek or receive assistance Compatible
(g) Allow stationing, installation, deployment Compatible
TPNW voting and participation
UNGA resolution on TPNW (latest vote) Voted no (2022)
Participated in 1MSP (2022) No
1MSP delegation size (% women) N/A
Adoption of TPNW (7 July 2017) N/A
Participated in TPNW negotiations (2017) No
Negotiation mandate (A/RES/71/258) Abstained
Other weapons of mass destruction (WMD) treaties
Party to an NWFZ No
Party to the NPT No
Ratified the CTBT No (Annex 2 state)
Party to the BWC Yes (Ratified 1974)
Party to the CWC Yes (Ratified 1997)
IAEA safeguards and fissile material
Safeguards agreement Item-specific agreement
TPNW Art 3(2) deadline N/A
Small Quantities Protocol No
Additional Protocol No
Enrichment facilities/reprocessing plants Yes (Mil)
HEU stocks 4 tons (Mil)
Plutonium stocks 0.46 tons (Mil)

Latest developments

Marking the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons on 26 September 2022, Pakistan warned that the risk of nuclear war is higher today than at any time since the Cuban missile crisis. ‘The largest nuclear powers have failed to fulfil their disarmament obligations,’ it said.1

In the First Committee of the UN General Assembly in October 2022, Pakistan opined that the TPNW ‘fails to take on board our legitimate security concerns’, adding that it ‘does not consider itself bound by any of the obligations arising from this Treaty’ and asserting that the Treaty ‘neither forms a part of nor contributes to the development of customary international law in any manner’.2

Pakistan also said that it ‘remains firmly committed to the goal of a nuclear-weapon-free world, achieved in a universal, verifiable and non-discriminatory manner’, and called for the commencement of negotiations on a comprehensive nuclear weapons convention.3

Recommendations

  • Pakistan should acknowledge that nuclear deterrence is not a sustainable solution for its own or international security, and that any perceived benefits are far outweighed by the risk of nuclear accidents or war.
  • Pakistan should pursue negotiations in good faith on nuclear disarmament.
  • Pakistan should urgently adhere to the TPNW. Until it is in a position to do so, it should welcome the TPNW as a valuable component in the global disarmament and non-proliferation architecture, work with the Treaty's states parties on practical steps towards disarmament, and attend the meetings of states parties as an observer. @Pakistan should also adhere to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) and the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT).
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