Burma refutes nuclear weapons program allegations

Yangoon, June 12, (ANI): Putting all speculations at rest, Burma has officially denied that it is developing any nuclear weapons program.

The Foreign Ministry of Burma has claimed that anti-government groups in collusion with the media had launched the allegations, with the goal of "hindering Burma's democratic process and to tarnish the political image of the government," the Daily Express reported.

It also contradicted the claims of the Norway-based Burma exile news service, Democratic Voice of Burma, which had charged that the junta is actively pursuing a nuclear weapons programme aided by North Korea, with the aim of developing a bomb and long-range missiles.

Terming the allegations as baseless, the Foreign Ministry statement said that they were based merely on "information provided by army deserters, defectors and dissidents, which are inaccurate, unfair and unreliable."

"Burma, which is a developing nation, lacks adequate infrastructure, technology and finance to develop nuclear weapons," it added. (ANI)