‘Sharp increase’ in Pak efforts to illegally get N-tech: Berlin
PAKISTAN HAS 130 TO 140 NUCLEAR WEAPONS AND PLANS TO INCREASE THIS NUMBER TO 250 ATOMIC WARHEADS BY 2025, ACCORDING TO A 2018 INTEL REPORT
NEW DELHI: The German government believes there has been a “sharp increase” in Pakistan’s activities in recent years to illegally procure technology used in nuclear, biological and chemical weapons, according to official documents.
The German government conveyed this information in a reply earlier this month to a question from lawmakers of die Linke (Left Party), including Sevim Dagdelen, the deputy leader of the party’s parliamentary group.
The government’s reply dovetails with concerns expressed by Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz (BfV), the German domestic intelligence service, which said in a 2018 report on proliferation-related matters that there had been a “massive increase” in
Pakistan’s attempts to clandestinely procure nuclear goods in Germany and other Western countries.
Dagdelen and four other MPs of the Left Party had sought information from the government on changes since 2010 in efforts by foreign countries to illegally procure goods needed for the research and manufacture of chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear weapons, and carrier systems from Germany.
In its reply, the German government said that since 2010, there had been “some quantitative changes” in illegal procurement efforts by states such as Iran, whose activities had witnessed a reduction since the JCPoA came into force in 2016.
“By contrast, Pakistan has seen a sharp increase in proliferation-relevant procurement activities in recent years,” the government said in its reply in German. The reply did not give details of Pakistan’s activities.
The BfV, in its 2018 report Proliferation - Wir haben verantwortung (We have a responsibility), had said, “There’s been a massive increase in Pakistani procurement attempts both in Germany and in numerous other Western countries. The main focus is on goods that can be used in the field of nuclear technology. Accordingly, intensive efforts are to be expected in the future as well.”