Pakistan Wants India-like
Nuclear Deal with US
Washington,
DC: Pakistan should have the same access to US civilian nuclear
technology that President George W Bush has proposed for India,
the Pakistani ambassador to the United States said.
Jehangir Karamat, Pakistan’s former army chief, also
warned that “the balance of power in South Asia should
not become so tilted in India’s favor, as a result of
the US relationship with Delhi, that Pakistan has to start
taking extraordinary measures to ensure a capability for deterrence
and defense.”
The Bush administration is working to persuade Congress to
approve a deal that would ship civilian nuclear technology
to India in return for New Delhi’s placing its civilian
facilities under safeguards of the United Nations’ nuclear
watchdog.
Neither Pakistan nor India is a member of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation
Treaty, the cornerstone of global efforts to control the spread
of nuclear weapons. Before nuclear technology can be shared
with India, Congress must approve an exception to a US law
that bans civilian nuclear cooperation with countries that
have not submitted to the treaty’s full nuclear inspections.
Ambassador Karamat said Pakistani officials have yet to approach
the Bush administration about civilian nuclear energy cooperation,
but Pakistan plans eventually to broach the subject. He mentioned
the strong military ties between the two countries, which
include US training Pakistani soldiers and selling weapons
to Pakistan.
The ambassador acknowledged widespread criticism of Pakistan’s
nuclear program, especially “concerns on proliferation”.
Karamat observed, “I think that those concerns have
been largely met and satisfied. The whole structure on the
ground for physical security and control of those (nuclear)
assets and the various steps that have been taken to prevent
accidents and illegal transfers — those are now foolproof,
and the US is aware of that.”
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
