According to a report published in the New York Times Pakistan has steadily expanded its nuclear arsenal and is close to overtaking Britain as the worlds fifth largest nuclear power. According to the latest American intelligence assessment, Pakistan possesses around 110 nuclear weapons. Whether it is true or not let it be known that Pakistan neither has an ambition of competing in the nuclear race nor posing a threat to any other country. Considering the stats only it transpires that the countries above Pakistan have a higher number of nuclear weapons each and the power which tops the list possesses the same in countless numbers. The total number of nuclear devices spread around the world would presumably range into a couple of thousands. It may be recalled that the five years long World War-II ended with the use of only two nuclear bombs, one at Hiroshima and the other at Nagasaki. The holocaust they caused compelled a strong country like Japan to surrender. With such a large present day nuclear stockpile, what a dangerous world we live in. The nuclear development being a top secret subject, one wonders how the stats are worked out? It appears as if an 'invisible nuclear agent of the leading power infiltrates into the cellars of other nuclear countries, counts the nuclear weapons on his finger tips and reports back to the nuclear statistician. RAFI NASIM Lahore