India, Pakistan swap nuclear facility lists despite post-conflict tensions

New Delhi, January 2. India and Pakistan on January 1 carried out their annual exchange of nuclear installation lists, continuing a three-decade-old confidence-building practice even as bilateral relations remain deeply strained after their four-day military confrontation in May 2025.

The Ministry of External Affairs said the exchange was conducted simultaneously through diplomatic channels in New Delhi and Islamabad. Under the arrangement, both sides shared details of nuclear installations and facilities protected by the bilateral agreement that bars attacks on each other’s atomic sites.

The accord, signed on December 31, 1988, and in force since January 27, 1991, requires the two neighbours to exchange these lists every year on January 1. This year’s exchange marks the 35th consecutive time the exercise has been completed since it began in 1992.

The agreement covers a wide range of sensitive facilities, including nuclear power plants, research reactors, uranium enrichment and reprocessing units, and storage locations holding radioactive material, along with their geographical coordinates.

Strategic experts regard the mechanism as a vital, if limited, safeguard against escalation, particularly during periods of heightened hostility. While the pact lacks verification provisions, it has endured through wars, major terror attacks and prolonged diplomatic standoffs, serving as one of the few surviving pillars of nuclear risk reduction between the two rivals.