Pakistan says its nuclear assets completely safe

Pakistan on Thursday said its nuclear assets are completely safe and dismissed the world's suspicions as "baseless" at a meeting of the National Command Authority chaired by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

Director General of Strategic Planning Division Khalid Kadwai briefed the meeting about the security and safety measures of the country's nuclear installations and arsenals.

He said the world's suspicions about Pakistan's nuclear arsenals are baseless, state-run Radio Pakistan reported.

The meeting is also holding an in-depth discussion on the recent tension at the Line of Control and the fallout of any US attack on Syria.

The authority is the principal forum responsible for command and control of the country's nuclear arsenal. It also looks after the security and safety of nuclear installations.

The meeting was attended by Foreign Affairs and National Security Adviser Sartaj Aziz‚ Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali‚ Finance Minister Ishaq Dar‚ Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee and the three services chiefs.

Earlier this week, Pakistan had reacted to a report on US concerns about its nuclear arsenal by saying it has extensive protection measures and a robust control system for its atomic weapons that are aimed at maintaining stability in South Asia.

The remarks by Pakistan's Foreign Office came in response to a report in The Washington Post that said the US spends billions monitoring adversaries like Al-Qaeda and Iran but has an "equally intense focus" on its "purported ally" Pakistan and has ramped up surveillance of its nuclear arms.

Citing a 178-page summary of the American intelligence community's "black budget", The Post reported that the US had ramped up its surveillance of Pakistan's nuclear arms and was concerned about its biological and chemical arms sites.

Pakistan is believed to have about 120 nuclear warheads.