Following the terms of an agreement which restricts the two countries from attacking each other’s atomic facilities, Pakistan and India on Friday conducted the annual practice of exchanging the list of their nuclear installations.
The exchange was made in accordance with Article-II of the Agreement on Prohibition of Attacks against Nuclear Installations and Facilities between Pakistan and India, signed on December 31, 1988, read the Foreign Office (FO) statement.
As part of the agreement, the list of nuclear installations and facilities in Pakistan was officially handed over to a representative of the Indian High Commission at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at 11 am.
Similarly, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs handed over a similar list to an officer of the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi
This was the 30th consecutive exchange of the list between the two countries. The first one had taken place on January 1, 1992.
The agreement ensures that neither country would make any direct or indirect efforts to attack, target, or otherwise damage each other’s nuclear facilities.
This exchange took place in spite of the increased tensions between the two countries since the Pulwama attack in February of last year, in which India placed the blamed on Pakistan for the 44 of its soldiers that were killed in occupied Kashmir.
Following the incident, the two countries engaged in an aerial dogfight and came to the brink of war.
Furthermore, India’s revocation of occupied Kashmir’s special status in violation of UNSC resolutions led to further deterioration of ties between the two.
Pakistan downgraded its diplomatic relations with India and expelled the Indian high commissioner following the revocation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir on August 5, 2019.
Recently, Pakistan has warned that India is planning a false flag operation against the country, and to this effect, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has urged the international community to intervene while stating that Pakistan would take effective measures to stop India if any such operation is launched.
