Pakistan on Thursday said recent findings by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) regarding India's nuclear capabilities were consistent with concerns Islamabad has repeatedly raised about New Delhi's continued expansion of its strategic arsenal and military capabilities.
Responding to media queries about reports and analyses published by the Stockholm-based research institute, Foreign Office spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said Pakistan had taken note of SIPRI's assessments of India's nuclear production, deployment preparations and nuclear warhead capabilities.
The spokesperson said Pakistan did not necessarily endorse SIPRI's methodology or consider all aspects of its assessments fully credible. However, he said the institute's observations did not come as a surprise to Islamabad.
"These findings are in line with the concerns that Pakistan has consistently expressed regarding India's continued nuclear proliferation," the spokesperson said.
He said even open-source estimates such as those compiled by SIPRI might not fully reflect the actual scale of India's nuclear weapons programme.
"The actual extent of India's nuclear arsenal may be significantly larger than what is reflected in these assessments," he said.
The spokesperson said Pakistan was also aware of developments beyond the growth in India's stockpile of nuclear warheads, pointing to advancements in the country's strategic delivery systems and operational capabilities.
He cited the canisterization of missile systems, expansion of sea-based nuclear capabilities through nuclear-powered submarines and the continued development of increasingly longer-range missile systems as areas of concern.
According to the Foreign Office, these developments, combined with what it described as increasing operational readiness by India, could further complicate crisis management and conflict resolution in the region.
The spokesperson said the implications of such developments extended beyond South Asia and had the potential to affect international peace and security.
"Their consequences are not limited to the region alone and carry broader implications for global peace and strategic stability," he said.
Reiterating Pakistan's position on strategic stability, the spokesperson said Islamabad was not pursuing an arms race and had no interest in matching India weapon-for-weapon or warhead-for-warhead.
"Pakistan does not seek an arms race, nor is it interested in parity in the number of warheads, weapons or ammunition," he said.
At the same time, the spokesperson said Pakistan would continue to closely monitor developments in the regional security environment and take necessary measures to safeguard its national security interests.
"We remain vigilant in the evolving security environment," he added.
The statement came after SIPRI's latest assessment highlighted continued growth and modernization efforts among several nuclear-armed states, including India, amid rising geopolitical tensions and increasing investments in strategic military capabilities worldwide.