The Ministry of External Affairs on Friday commented on United States President Donald Trump’s claim that Islamabad was secretly testing nuclear weapons, saying that such “clandestine and illegal nuclear activities are in keeping with Pakistan’s history”.

“India has always drawn the attention of the international community to these aspects of Pakistan’s record,” ministry Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, adding that New Delhi has taken note of Trump’s comment.

New Delhi alleged that Islamabad’s nuclear activities are “centred around decades of smuggling, export control violations, secret partnerships, the AQ Khan network and further proliferation”.

The AQ Khan network was a secretive operation led by Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan from the late 1970s to the early 2000s that illegally supplied nuclear technology, designs and materials to countries such as Iran, North Korea and Libya.

On November 2, Trump told CBS News that Pakistan was among the countries actively testing nuclear weapons. He made the comment while justifying his decision to resume the US’ nuclear trials for the first time since 1992, stating that China, Russia, North Korea and Pakistan were conducting the tests.

When the anchor said that it was unclear if Pakistan had tested nuclear weapons, Trump said: “Of course they have”.

“They [countries] test way underground where people don’t know exactly what’s happening,” he added.

Trump did not provide details to back his assertion that Pakistan was testing nuclear weapons or when the claimed tests had been carried out.

Pakistan has rejected Trump’s claim and said that it “will not be the first to resume nuclear tests”, CBS News reported.

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