'Tough pill to swallow for Pakistan': Ex-IAF officer after Trump claims Pak testing nukes

Former Indian Air Force officer Ajay Ahlawat on Monday described US President Donald Trump's latest remarks about Pakistan's covert nuclear testing as "a tough pill to swallow" for Islamabad.

"President Trump claims Pakis are testing nukes in underground facilities. Now this will be a tough pill to swallow for Pakis, since they hang on to Prez T's coattails when he says ‘7 jets were shot down’. Deny this and they call Prez T(rump) a liar. Accept this and be called out as rogue state," Ahlawat wrote in a social media post.

Trump, in an interview with CBS's 60 Minutes, claimed that Pakistan and China were among several countries secretly testing nuclear weapons, alongside Russia and North Korea. The statement followed his own order for the United States to resume nuclear testing after a 33-year moratorium.

Trump said that while America's tests were openly discussed, others carried out theirs covertly. "Russia is testing and China is testing, but they don’t talk about it...Certainly North Korea's been testing. Pakistan's been testing," he told CBS, claiming that such tests could be conducted deep underground to avoid detection.

Trump also said both India and Pakistan had been "on the verge of a nuclear war" earlier this year, which he claimed to have averted through diplomacy and trade leverage. "If Donald Trump didn't get involved, many millions of people would have been dead. Aeroplanes were shot down all over the place. I told both of them, if you guys don’t stop, you will not do any business with the US," he said.

India's nuclear stockpile is estimated at around 180 warheads, compared to Pakistan's 170 and China's 600, projected to rise to 1,000 by 2030.