On Friday, Pakistan’s top nuclear security adviser, Khalid Ahmed Kidwai, rejected calls from the United States to curb Pakistan’s reliance on tactical nuclear weapons (VoA). Kidwai commented, “We are not apologetic about the development of the TNWs [tactical nuclear weapons] and they are here to stay.” Kidwai was speaking before a seminar at Islamabad’s Institute of Strategic Studies. Kidwai’s comments follow testimony before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee by Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Rose Gottemoeller, where she commented: “So, we are really quite concerned about this, and we have made our concerns known, and we will continue to press them about what we consider to be the destabilizing aspects of their battlefield nuclear weapons program.”
A team of Pakistani experts arrived in India on Sunday to help investigate the Pathankot airbase attack (BBC, Hindu). The team will be given access to all the witnesses to the attack, but they would not be able to interview security personnel. This is the first time that Pakistani intelligence and police officials have travelled to India to investigate a militant attack.
Seven security personnel and six attackers were killed in the January 2016 attack at the air force base in Pathankot, in the western state of Punjab. India blames Pakistan based militants from Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), a banned militant organization, for the attack. Diplomatic talks between the countries were postponed after the attack. Pakistan claims to have arrested senior members of JeM.