Pakistan says its archrival India is building a “secret nuclear city” to produce thermonuclear weapons as well as developing intercontinental missiles and secretly stockpiling nuclear material, reports AFP from Islamabad. Foreign Ministry spokesman Nafees Zakaria made the allegations at a press conference yesterday, without providing evidence or further details. Indian officials could not immediately be reached for comment.
Tensions have soared between the South Asian rivals in recent months over violence in the disputed Kashmir region, which is split between Indian and Pakistani zones of control and claimed in its entirety by both. The two nuclear-armed countries have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir.
The two nuclear-armed neighbors, who continue to be locked in a string of sea-and-land disputes, also conducted several missile tests last year. India and Pakistan made 17 per cent and 11 per cent increases, respectively, in their defense budgets in the 2015-2016 fiscal year. Currently, New Delhi is spending $40 billion a year on defense, while Pakistan has earmarked $7.6 billion for defense expenditures this fiscal year.
India ranked eighth on the list of countries with the largest military expenditures in 2015, while Pakistan's defense budget was five times smaller.