Read the given paragraph and answer the questions that follow:
On April 8th, 2008 The Hindu published an article titled “Potential consequences of a regional nuclear conflict” in which the author convincingly illustrates the dangers a nuclear- armed South Asia presents. The fact that both India and Pakistan, but of course also China, possess nuclear weapons has been an alarming reality since 1998. The relative progress that has been achieved in India- Pakistan relations should not lead one to forget that two conflicts in 1999 and 2001 could easily have escalated into a nuclear confrontation.
India had embarked upon a civilian nuclear program right after her independence but the “weapon option” has always been present. India’s nuclear policy has been an evolutionary, sometimes painful process equally shaped by domestic and international factors. This paper attempts to analyse some of these factors and argues that the development of nuclear weapons was a logical, albeit not planned, consequence of them. It is interesting that even those in India fiercely opposed to nuclear weapons subconsciously seemed to have realised that India’s nuclear program could not be limited to civilian application forever. On May 27th, 1998, the government of the then- prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee issued a statement to the 12th Lok Sabha titled the “Evolution of India’s Nuclear Policy”.
Q. Since 1998, other than India and China, possession of nuclear weapons has been an alarming reality of which country?