India, Pakistan exchange lists of nuclear facilities in annual peace-pact ritual

Under the Agreement on the Prohibition of Attack against Nuclear installations, Indian and Pakistani officials exchanged lists of their nuclear facilities late last week.

The Economic Times said this is the 25th time that the lists have been exchanged between the countries. The agreement said neither nation will attack nuclear facilities that belong to the other nation. This agreement was first established on Dec. 31, 1988, and the first exchange took place on Jan. 1, 1992.

Under the agreement, lists must be exchanged on the first day of each calendar year.

The World Nuclear Association (WNA) said India anticipates that it will have approximately 14.6 gigawatts of electrical generating capacity in operation by 2024. A recent Power News Wire report said India and the Russian Federation have reached agreements to build Russian-designed nuclear reactors in India.

The WNA also said Pakistan has a total nuclear generation capacity of approximately 725 megawatts. The country also intends to expand nuclear power generation.

India and Pakistan are not part of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty because both nations have active weapons programs.