Photo Credit: Indiatimes

New Delhi: Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said that his country's nonstrategic nuclear weapons are meant to dissuade the Indian Army's "cold start" belief.

Abbasi said that Pakistan's tactical nuclear armours were under a command-and-control system, but there are chances of these sophisticated and conventional weapons to land up in the hands of terrorists, reports The Times of India.

The Federation of American Scientists (FAS) said that Pakistan has put its nukes at nine different locations in the country.

Hans Kritensen, US nuclear weapon expert, who has also co-authored the report, said that the deadly weapons may be located in storage facilities and these places have launchers to fire these armours.

The report elaborates on the country-wide dissemination of the weapons and the extent of nuclear forces of the neighbouring country.

Kristensen told The Times of India Pakistan was building a sub-strategic nuclear weapon and the warheads are likely to be spread to regional storage facilities from where they could be assembled and sent to the launch base.

"Since the shorter-range systems are intended to be used earlier in a conflict below the strategic level, weapons for these systems would likely be distributed early in a crisis and raise the risk of accidents and incidents. If used against conventional attacks, use of the tactical nuclear weapons would likely lead to escalation to a wider nuclear war quickly," said Kristensen.

A US administration official said last month that Washington is worried by the development of tactical nuclear weapons that were supposed to be designed to be used in wars.

He said the US believes that these arsenals are more likely to be stolen by terrorist organisations which increases the possibility of a nuclear exchange in the region.

Pakistan has amplified nuclear weapons o 130-140 warheads and is also expanding the scope of delivery systems, a report by Kristensen and Robert Norris states.

It suggests that Pakistan is deploying its armour to more sites and to point out locations is difficult.

"For example, no reliable public information exists on where Pakistan produces or stores its nuclear weapons. Thus, we have used commercial satellite images, expert studies, and local news reports and articles to make the assumption that nuclear weapons are likely to be at, or near, wherever nuclear-capable weapon systems are deployed," it says.