SANJAY PANDITA
Early Times Report
JAMMU, Aug 19: A chilling warning has emerged from the heart of Europe - top security experts and geopolitical analysts have openly questioned whether Pakistan, a nuclear-armed nation, can truly be trusted to safeguard its weapons of mass destruction against the creeping tide of extremism within its own borders.
The alarm was raised at a high-profile international conference held in Geneva, Switzerland, staged as a side event during the 62nd Regular Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council 2026. The gathering marked the launch of a explosive new book - Nuclearisation of Asia: From Nuclearisation to the Emergence of Asia - authored by veteran French journalist and geopolitical analyst René Naba, the former head of the Arab-Muslim Desk at AFP News Agency.
Naba's central thesis is stark: even as Asia cements its place as the world's most consequential continent - in population, economic muscle, and nuclear firepower - the continent's rise is being shadowed by a dangerous undercurrent of instability. Violations of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), the weaponization of artificial intelligence, and deepening regional volatility, he argues, threaten to unravel decades of fragile strategic balance. The book also turns a critical eye toward the deepening China-Pakistan strategic nexus and its far-reaching implications.
The panel of security experts who convened in Geneva did not mince words. Their verdict: Pakistan's nuclear infrastructure faces mounting internal security risks from surging public radicalization and the spread of militant ideology. The resurgence of the Taliban in neighbouring Afghanistan, coupled with the intensifying activities of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), was flagged as a direct and growing threat to regional nuclear security.
Analysts pointed to a troubling, decades-long trend - the gradual embedding of jihadist and extremist narratives within segments of Pakistan's own educational system, raising uncomfortable questions about what kind of ideological environment is shaping the country's next generation.
The panel's conclusion was unambiguous: while Asia's ascent as a global power may be unstoppable, a nuclear-armed Pakistan wrestling with extremism and terrorism from within represents a genuine and present danger to global security - one the international community can no longer afford to ignore.
Severe political and economic turmoil could erode the institutions tasked with guarding nuclear facilities, analysts warned - creating fertile ground for insider threats if personnel are compromised.
René Naba and fellow analysts cautioned that if lower- or mid-level officials within Pakistan's security establishment fall under the influence of extremist ideology, the integrity of the entire nuclear command-and-control chain could be put at risk.
The volatile Pakistan-India relationship remains, in the eyes of the international community, one of the world's most dangerous nuclear flashpoints - with any conventional military clash carrying real potential to spiral into catastrophe.
Islamabad insists its nuclear programme is fully secure under the National Command Authority. But critics counter that during a severe crisis, a breakdown in centralized command could open the door to operational errors - or worse, unauthorized use.
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