Islamabad: The Senate of Pakistan witnessed a heated debate over reports that oil-rich Saudi Arabia might buy nuclear weapons from Islamabad.

Senate chairman Mian Raza Rabbani admitted an adjournment motion moved by Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) Senator Hafiz Hamdullah despite the government's opposition, with directives that the house would hold a detailed debate on this issue by next Tuesday.

Senator Hamdullah said that Saudi Arabia could buy nuclear bomb amidst mounting tension between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Riyadh's move to buy nuclear weapons would destabilise the Middle East as well as Pakistan, JUI-F Senator maintained.

Federal Minister for Commerce and Trade, Khurram Dastgir Khan, opposed the adjournment motion.

The House was informed that a national census would be taken this year and the reason for a delay in the census was the ongoing military operation against militants in the restive North Waziristan.

Federal Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination, Riaz Hussain Pirzada, informed that a national census would be taken in March 2016 as per the recommendation of the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).