In a United States study released on Thursday, India has been ranked among countries with the weakest nuclear security in the world.
The 2014 Nuclear Threat Initiative’s Nuclear Materials Security Index has awarded India 41 out of 100 points, ranking it at 23 out of 25 countries with weapons-usable nuclear materials
The study states that over the past two years, the number of countries possessing the makings of a nuclear bomb has dropped by almost one-quarter but there remain “dangerous weak links” in nuclear materials security that could be exploited by terrorist groups leading to catastrophic results.
China has received 64 points, and is ranked at 20th spot, while Pakistan with 46 points stands at 22nd place.
The study cites a number of factors for the rankings, including weak regulations, increasing quantities of weapons-usable nuclear materials for both civilian and military use and lack of an independent regulatory agency.
External risk factors stated by the study include high level of corruption which undermines confidence in enforcement of security measures and increase the risk of officials contributing, even unknowingly, to the theft of nuclear material.
Both India and Pakistan have an improved score since 2012.
Pakistan improved its score by publishing new regulations for the physical protection of nuclear facilities.
India ranks third-last of nuclear material security index: US think-tank
