National Assembly (NA) Standing Committee on Defence asked the Ministry of Defence to take stringent measures for protecting nuclear assets so that any chance of error could be ruled out, Pakistan Today reliably learnt. The Defence Standing Committee meeting was held in-camera on Friday. The committee meeting discussed terrorists’ attack on Mehran naval base and the US forces’ operation in Abbottabad.
Secretary Ministry of Defence Lt. General (Retd) Syed Athar Ali briefed the committee regarding security of nuclear assets and other defence installations. “The committee said that extra measures were needed to secure the country’s nuclear installations,” a source said. The secretary defense said the possibility of inside collaborators with terrorists, who had attacked Mehran naval base, could not be ruled out.
Meanwhile, MNA Capt (Retd) Rai Ghulam Mujtaba Kharral, a member of the committee, told Pakistan Today that the committee called for extra security measures to protect nuclear assets as Pakistan was faced with growing international propaganda against its atomic installations. “We need to stave off growing international propaganda against the safety of our nuclear facilities.
The committee suggested extra measures to rule out any chance for human error,” Mujtaba Kharral told Pakistan Today. The Secretary Defence also expressed financial limitations regarding safety of nuclear assests, he added. “The Secretary apprised the committee about limitations of our resources and said that the government will take all possible measures”, Khurral said.
He refused to divulge details when asked about the limitations. He further stated the committee termed attack on the Mehran naval base as an intelligence failure. He said the committee members directed the Defence Secretary to ensure that attacks like Mehran naval base should not be repeated in future. The committee also held a discussion on the Conjun Desalination Plant at DHA, Karachi.
