Pakistan has been ranked above India, Iran and North Korea in terms of its handling of hazardous material by an international organisation evaluating the status of global nuclear security.

The country has gained three more points since the last assessment and was number 19 on the list of 22 states, said the NTI Nuclear Security Index.

The Index evaluates global nuclear and radiological security based on a set of indicators and criteria. The countries and areas are scored on five categories: quantities and sites, security and control measures, global norms, domestic commitments and capacity, and risk environment.

In the tabulated form, the NTI index revealed Pakistan’s total score of 49 out of 100. It was higher than India’s 40, Iran’s 29, and North Korea’s 18.

The data further showed that Pakistan ranked 32 along with Russia and Israel in terms of the security of its nuclear facilities. The ranking was above India, Iran, Mexico, South Africa and several others on a list of 47 countries.

But it raised concern over global nuclear security and urged governments, regulators, industry, international organisations, and NGOs to take action to prevent a nuclear or radiological catastrophe.

“After years of reporting flagging progress on nuclear security, the NTI Nuclear Security Index for the first time in 2023 finds that nuclear security conditions are regressing in the dozens of countries and areas with weapons-usable nuclear materials and nuclear facilities,” it said.

“Eight countries — France, India, Iran, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, and the United Kingdom — have increased their stocks of weapons-usable nuclear materials, in some cases by thousands of kilograms per year, undermining minimization and elimination efforts and increasing the risk of theft,” said the report.