Pakistan Improved on National Threat Initiative Nuclear Security Index says US

The United States gave its approval of Pakistan’s Nuclear Program, terming the country “most improved” in 2020. The findings were published in the National Threat Initiative Nuclear Security Index Report for 2020. Pakistan was ranked in the 19^th position with 47 points, with India trailing by 6 points in the 20^th position. The maximum improvement was observed in the Security and Control Measures category, resulting in a 25 point improvement. The Global Norms category also saw a marginal increase of 1 point.

The report attributed Pakistan’s improvements in the security and control measures category due to the strengthening of laws and regulations. The country had previously seen improvements by 8 points in 2014 and 6 points in 2018. Referring to the latest increase, the report mentioned that it was the second-largest in the category since the launch of the report in 2012.

Pakistan scored high in the domestic commitments and capacity category, medium in the security and control measures, and global norms category. However, a low score was observed in the quantities and sites category due to an increase in the number of nuclear weapons. Among other countries, New Zealand and Sweden tied for the first position in the without materials category.