Pakistan’s Escalation Threatens 1988 Nuclear Non-Attack Pact with India

By A Staff Reporter

New Delhi: The fragile peace between India and Pakistan faces a new and alarming threat as Islamabad signals it may suspend the 1988 India-Pakistan Non-Attack Agreement on Nuclear Installations, a critical cornerstone of South Asia’s nuclear stability. The statement comes in the wake of rising tensions sparked by India’s temporary suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty following Operation Sindoor, which targeted terrorist bases in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

In what analysts call a dangerously escalatory move, Pakistan has threatened to walk away from all bilateral agreements, including the nuclear non-attack pact. This pact, signed in 1988 and in force since 1991, obligates both nations to refrain from attacking each other’s nuclear installations and requires an annual exchange of lists of nuclear facilities—a measure intended to avoid catastrophic misunderstandings and preserve regional peace.

“Suspending this agreement would remove one of the last standing guardrails in a volatile nuclear neighbourhood,” said a senior Indian strategic affairs expert. “It would signal a breakdown in even the most basic confidence-building measures that have held despite wars and terror attacks.”