Pakistan is upgrading its nuclear arsenal with Chinese support and sees India as an “existential threat”, a US report has said. In its worldwide threat assessment report for 2025, the US Defence Intelligence Agency predicted that nuclear modernisation would be a top priority for Pakistan’s military during the next year.
The report said: “Pakistan regards India as an existential threat and will continue to pursue its military modernisation effort, including the development of battlefield nuclear weapons, to offset India’s conventional military advantage.” It suggested Islamabad was not only upgrading and securing its arsenal but also “almost certainly” procuring weapons of mass destruction (WMD).
“Pakistan is modernising its nuclear arsenal and maintaining the security of its nuclear materials and nuclear command and control. Pakistan almost certainly procures WMD-applicable goods from foreign suppliers and intermediaries,” it said.Chinese largesse Pakistan is a recipient of China’s economic and military largesse, and the two nations carry out joint military exercises, including an air exercise in November last year.
“Foreign materials and technology supporting Pakistan’s WMD programmes are very likely acquired primarily from suppliers in China, and sometimes are trans-shipped through Hong Kong, Singapore, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates,” said the report.
