In July 2023, the Washington-based Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) released its nuclear security index that evaluated the status of global nuclear security. It ranked Pakistan at number 19 out of 22 states on its handling of hazardous material,[1] above India, Iran, and North Korea. Moreover, Pakistan improved its ranking by 3 points since the last assessment in 2020 with a score of 49 out of 100.[2] While this is tangible evidence of how Pakistan is constantly improving its nuclear security, this is at best a small reflection of the overall achievements. Pakistan has done a tremendous amount of work in building a strong nuclear security regime with several components – from an extensive legislative and regulatory framework that governs the security of nuclear materials, radioactive substances, and associated facilities and activities to the requisite institutions, resources, and manpower for its effective implementation.
