President Barack Obama has said that India and Pakistan need to reconsider their approach towards building nuclear arsenal as it might take them in ‘wrong direction.
The US President gave the statement while addressing a press conference after Nuclear Security Summit ended in Washington.
He said that the two neighbours need to make progress in lessening their nuclear arsenal.
For a rather appreciated reception by different sections, Obama said that United States and Russia, having the two largest nuclear arsenals need to pave the way for other countries to reduce their weapons.
Obama said the part criticism on US drone attacks is valid and reasonable as innocent people die in those attacks. Prior to the press conference, while addressing the closing session of Nuclear Security Summit (NSC), Obama called for enhanced cooperation among international powers to keep terror outfits including Daesh from getting hands of nuclear weapons.
Operation against Daesh, though tough, is gaining substantial success, he added.
He said that United States took steps to kill possibility of ‘nuclear terrorism.’ However, he said that threats of nuclear terrorism are increasing are escalating gradually.
On the other hand, Special Assistant to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Foreign Affairs, Tariq Fatemi said that Pakistan takes its responsibilities pertaining to nuclear security seriously. Pakistan is safely running a civil atomic programme for past forty years, he added.
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Fatemi further said that Pakistan is fully cooperating with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and different countries.
Earlier on Friday, Obama had said that extremist “madmen” from the Islamic State group would not hesitate to launch a catastrophic nuclear attack.
Hoping to galvanize global action to prevent extremists from getting hold of nuclear weapons or material for a “dirty bomb,” Obama painted an apocalyptic picture of the impact of a nuclear terror attack.
“ISIL has already used chemical weapons, including mustard gas, in Syria and Iraq,” Obama said, using an acronym for the Islamic State group.
“There is no doubt that if these madmen ever got their hands on a nuclear bomb or nuclear material, they most certainly would use it to continue to kill as many innocent people as possible.”
North Korea concerns
Though the summit was focused on fissile stockpiles, other nuclear concerns inevitably drew broad attention, including North Korea and its continued testing of nuclear devices and ballistic missiles.
The reclusive nation fired another short-range missile off its east coast on Friday, the latest in a series of North Korean missile launches during what has been an extended period of military tension on the Korean peninsula.
The summit had opened Thursday with Obama trying to forge consensus among East Asian leaders on how to respond to Pyongyang.