US President Donald Trump has said that Pakistan and China, apart from Russia and North Korea, are testing nuclear weapons. This is of concern for India as it faces two nuclear-armed rivals on two fronts. Trump made the revelation in a CBS news interview, justifying his order to US forces to test nuclear weapons.
Pakistan and China are testing nuclear weapons, President Donald Trump said in an interview on CBS’s 60 Minutes. He said Russia and North Korea were also testing their nuclear arms. Trump’s remarks came as he justified his order to American forces to test nuclear weapons after a 33-year moratorium. Trump’s revelation could be concerning for India as it faces Pakistan and China on two fronts.
He claimed that countries possessing nuclear warheads have been conducting tests—they just don’t talk about it. He said China and Pakistan are already conducting covert detonations.
“Russia’s testing and China’s testing, but they don’t talk about it. You know, we’re an open society. We’re different. We talk about it… They don’t have reporters that are going to be writing about it.” He extended the allegation to Pakistan, claiming, “Certainly North Korea’s been testing. Pakistan’s been testing.”
Trump, in the same interview, said both India and Pakistan were in May on the verge of a nuclear war, which he prevented with trade and tariffs. He said millions would have been killed if he hadn’t stepped in.
“India was going to have a nuclear war with Pakistan. The Prime Minister of Pakistan stood up… If Donald Trump didn’t get involved, many millions of people would have been dead. It was a bad war. 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,” Trump said in the CBS interview.
Trump said, “They (the countries with nuclear weapons) don’t go and tell you about it… They test way underground where people don’t know exactly what’s happening with the test. You feel a little bit of a vibration.”
Global monitoring stations detect ground vibrations, which are earthquake-like waves, caused by underground nuclear explosions. However, Trump claimed such tests can be conducted covertly, making them undetectable.
PAKISTAN, CHINA TESTING NUCLEAR WEAPONS CONCERN FOR INDIA?
If China and Pakistan are indeed testing nuclear weapons, it makes the situation more volatile for India, which not only follows a no-first-use policy but also hasn’t conducted any nuclear tests since 1998.
India’s nuclear arsenal, estimated at 180 warheads as of 2025, lags behind China’s burgeoning stockpile of 600 (projected to hit 1,000 by 2030) and mirrors Pakistan’s 170.
While Pakistan’s fissile material could fuel up to 200 warheads by 2028, including tactical nukes, it’s China’s advancements—like the Fractional Orbital Bombardment System (FOBS) tested in 2021—that pose the gravest threat.
