Pakistan has to maintain a certain quantity of nuclear weapons according to the requirement of minimum deterrence, said Qureshi. - File photo

ISLAMABAD Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs Shah Mehmood Qureshi dismissed the report that Pakistan has increased the number of its nuclear warheads from 60 to around 70-90.

The minister was talking to journalists here at Federal Government Services Hospital (FGSH) after consoling Federal Minister for Religious Affairs, Hamid Saeed Kazmi who received bullet injuries in an attack on Wednesday.

Replying to a question, the Minister rejected the speculative story published in an American newspaper regarding nuclear weapons.

The Foreign Minister said Pakistan was a peaceful country and wanted to establish peace in the region but minimum credible deterrence is right of Pakistan and it will be maintained at all cost.

He said, 'we are against arms race in South Asia and accordingly we have proposed a restraint regime in the region and we do not have any aggressive design against any country.'

The foreign minister, while refuting the attack against Kazmi as a reaction to the military operation against militants in Swat, said 'it was nothing new, dozens incidents of terrorism took place in country'.

He said the Pakistan Army was trying its level best to eliminate militancy from the country but he said it is big challenge that needs much more work.—PPI/APP