Pakistan

Nuclear-armed state

Possesses 170 nuclear weapons

Has not yet joined the TPNW

SIGNED

RATIFIED

IN FORCE

Status

Pakistan has not yet signed or ratified the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW).

National position

Pakistan has consistently voted against an annual UN General Assembly resolution since 2018 that welcomes the adoption of the TPNW and calls upon all states to sign, ratify, or accede to it “at the earliest possible date”.

In 2022, Pakistan argued that the TPNW “fails to take on board our legitimate security concerns”, adding that it “does not consider itself bound by any of the obligations arising from this treaty” and asserting that the treaty “neither forms a part of nor contributes to the development of customary international law in any manner”.

In 2024, it said: “Pakistan did not take part in the negotiations of the TPNW due to its various conspicuous procedural and substantive shortcomings. It reduces the discourse only to humanitarian dimensions while ignoring the legitimate security concerns of states.”

In an interview in 2024, Pakistan’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Munir Akram, said that his country could not support the TPNW so long as India maintained a nuclear arsenal. “While we need our nuclear capability to prevent aggression, we cannot support the ban treaty,” he said.

A message projected onto the UN headquarters in New York in 2022 calls on Pakistan to join the TPNW. Photo: ICAN

Nuclear-weapon programme

Pakistan possesses approximately 170 nuclear weapons, which it can launch from missiles and aircraft. It is also developing its capability to launch them from submarines. Pakistan conducted two nuclear tests in 1998.

In 2024, Pakistan spent an estimated US$1.1 billion to build and maintain its nuclear weapons.

TPNW negotiations

Pakistan did not participate in the negotiation of the TPNW at the United Nations in New York in 2017 and thus did not vote on its adoption.

In 2016, Pakistan abstained from voting on the UN General Assembly resolution that established the formal mandate for states to commence the negotiations in 2017 on “a legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons, leading towards their total elimination”.

Further information

Nuclear Weapons Ban Monitor

Pakistan

Nuclear-armed state

Possesses 170 nuclear weapons

Has not yet joined the TPNW

Status

National position

Nuclear-weapon programme

TPNW negotiations

Further information

Local Partner Organizations

Related news View all news ›

united states

Global spending on nuclear weapons topped $100 billion in 2024

india

ICAN calls for immediate de-escalation of conflict between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan

united states

Global nuclear weapons spending surges to $91.4 billion

divestment

Nuclear weapons spending increases while global security decreases

nuclear weapons

Doomsday Clock set to 90 seconds to midnight, here’s the plan

china

2021 Global Nuclear Weapons Spending Report

nuclear weapons

Complicit: nuclear weapons spending increased by $1.4 billion in 2020

united states

Here are five examples of the type of activities that will be Illegal under international law on 22 January 2021

nuclear weapons

Enough is Enough: Global Nuclear Weapons Spending 2019

impact

Climate disruption: new study highlights the devastating global impact of regional nuclear conflict between India and Pakistan

india

India and Russia are testing nuclear missiles: Where is the global outcry?