ISLAMABAD: North Korea’s claims of having carried out a successful test of a hydrogen bomb has sent shockwaves through the global community, but observers in Pakistan are being cautious about what this could mean for the region.

Ahmer Bilal Soofi, an international law expert, told Dawn that in the aftermath of this test, there would be a renewed emphasis on strengthening the global non-proliferation regime.

The real cause for concern, he said, was that North Korea – as a non-signatory of the Nuclear Non-Proliferaton Treaty –exists outside that framework and has a demonstrable track record of being reckless. This, he said, puts them in a totally different category.

Analyst Imtiaz Gul was of the opinion that North Korea was an isolated country and its status could not be compared with that of Pakistan, India or even Iran. Iran’s case is different from North Korea’s because it is not as isolated as the latter, he said.

“India, Pakistan and North Korea are considered de-facto nuclear powers, but it will be even more worrying for the US if they really have detonated an H-bomb,” Mr Gul said, adding, “At the same time, the US does not know what to do with North Korea because nobody knows what North Korea wants.”

He said that political tensions will be running high in Japan and South Korea, but there would not be any fallout for the existing nuclear doctrine in South Asia.

Human rights activist I.A. Rehman, however, strongly condemned North Korea’s test, saying, “Nuclear weapons are a menace to humankind.”

“This will only lead to a new arms race in the Korean peninsula and eventually South Korea will want to go nuclear too, which will be very dangerous,” he said.

One political analyst Dawn spoke to even said that this test may provide India the impetus to test its own H-bomb, which it has claimed to have developed.

When asked if this test could revive international paranoia over the security of Pakistan’s own nuclear assets, which was also cause for concern in recent visits by Pakistani officials to the US, Mr Soofi was clear that Pakistan’s command and control structures are far better regulated.

The National Command Authority act provides a legal framework for all actions taken within the strategic domain, and Pakistan is in compliance with the requirements of UN Security Council Resolution 1540 on the non-proliferation of “nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and their means of delivery”.

This is a ‘Chapter 7 resolution’, which means it is binding on all member states. Pakistan does provide the necessary progress reports and there has been generally been a measure of satisfaction with Pakistan’s position, he said.

Published in Dawn, January 7th, 2016