International estimates about Pakistani nukes misleading: Experts.

ISLAMABAD -- Pakistani nuclear experts say international estimates about the country's nuclear arsenal are misleading and biased.

'Western think tanks have had a historical tendency to misreport Pakistan's nuclear program as the fastest growing one, and downplay the scope of India's nuclear capabilities,' Executive Director of The Center for International Strategic Studies (CISS) Ali Sarwar Naqvi said at a webinar hosted by his institute on Pakistani and Indian nuclear programs.

The webinar was held to address the myths about the Pakistani program, which are often peddled by the international media and certain academics. A report published by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) formed the background of the discussion.

The SIPRI report had suggested that the 'size and diversity' of Pakistan's nuclear weapons was greater than that of India and that there was no openness about the 'status or size' of the arsenals. The report had claimed that Pakistan had 160 warheads, which were 10 more than those in Indian arsenal

Senior Fellow at CISS Dr Naeem Salik said the difference of ten warheads between the arsenals of the two nuclear armed neighbours has been reported in most estimates for over a decade, which in itself is an admission that no country's nuclear program was growing faster than the other.

Dr Salik said most of the estimates were mere wild guesses in the absence of accurate data about the key factors of...

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