Why do Pakistan and India exchange information on their nuclear facilities?

India and Pakistan have exchanged lists of their nuclear facilities and facilities on January 1, just before the start of the new year. In fact, it is a process that takes place every year under an agreement between the two countries.

According to a press release issued by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs on January 1: 'A list of nuclear facilities and facilities was exchanged between Indian and Pakistani diplomats in New Delhi and Islamabad on January 1, which is a nuclear deal between India and Pakistan. Under the agreement not to attack installations and facilities.

The agreement was signed on December 31, 1988 and has been in force since January 27, 1991. Under this, India and Pakistan inform each other about nuclear facilities on January 1 every year. This information was first provided on January 1, 1992. This information has been exchanged for the 30th time in a row since then.

According to the agreement, the two countries cannot attack each other's nuclear facilities.

Pakistan's Foreign Ministry says the list was handed over to a representative of the Indian High Commission at 11 a.m. Pakistan time on January 1, while the Indian Foreign Ministry in Delhi handed over its nuclear facilities to a representative of the Pakistan High Commission at 11:30 a.m.

It should be noted that tensions between Pakistan and India have been high for the last two years and last year also there were several claims of ceasefire violations on the LoC by both sides.

After militants attacked security forces in the Pulwama area of ​​Indian-administered Kashmir in February 2019, India violated Pakistan's airspace and dropped payloads in the Balakot area, prompting the Pakistan Air Force to retaliate. Had shot down an Indian airliner and captured its pilot. The situation between the two countries has been tense since the incident.

This tension was further heightened when India ended its special status of Jammu and Kashmir in 2019. In response, Pakistan expelled the then Indian High Commissioner. India, on the other hand, termed the decision as its internal affair and justified the sanctions imposed on Kashmir.

Pakistan, India double nuclear arsenal

Earlier in June last year, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), a global watchdog group on nuclear weapons, said in a report that Pakistan and India had an estimated number of nuclear weapons in the last ten years. What has doubled?

According to Sapri's report, Pakistan has more nuclear weapons than India. According to the report, Pakistan has 160 nuclear weapons while India has 150 weapons. The report said that based on information obtained from various sources, it is believed that Pakistan has more nuclear weapons than India.

However, Sapri's report also states that Pakistan and India do not release public information on the number of nuclear weapons, other than the news of some of their missile tests.

The Sapphire report also said that the number of nuclear weapons in the world as a whole has decreased, largely due to the dismantling of old weapons by the United States and Russia as the two countries rapidly expand their nuclear programs. Are equipped with modern nuclear weapons and technology.

According to the SIPRI report, other countries are also equipping their nuclear weapons with modern technology or they have announced to do so.

The report said that Pakistan and India have also significantly increased the number of their nuclear weapons while China is rapidly increasing the number of its weapons and equipping them with modern technology.

Which country has how many nuclear weapons?

According to the Sapri report, the world's nine nuclear powers currently have about 13,400 nuclear weapons.