On Saturday, there have been reports about the seizure of more than seven kilograms of natural uranium in India, and Pakistan Foreign Office has voiced “serious concern” over it.
“Security of nuclear materials should be the top priority for all countries,” FO spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri said in a statement.
There is a dire need for a thorough investigation of how such a sizeable quantity of uranium could become available outside any state control and identify the gaps which made this possible, he said.
Uranium is used in several areas, including nuclear explosives and medical techniques.
In the western Maharashtra State, last Wednesday, the Indian police seized more than seven kilograms of natural uranium worth around $2.9 million and arrested two men for “illegally possessing” the highly radioactive substance.
After a report from the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre in Mumbai confirmed that the seized material was highly radioactive, a case was registered under the Atomic Energy Act, 1962 against both the accused including 27-year-old Jigar Jayesh Pandya and 31-year-old Abu Tahir Afzal Hussain Choudhary
In recent years, this is the second time in India that such a highly radioactive substance has been seized by police. In the Thane area of Maharashtra, police seized almost 9kg (19.8 pounds) of depleted uranium in 2016.