June 02, 2015
News
US-India N-deal affected strategic stability: Aizaz
INPWASHINGTON – The US nuclear deal with India has affected the strategic stability that existed in South Asia before the deal, says Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry.
The foreign secretary, who is leading the Pakistani team at the US-Pakistan talks on security, strategic stability and non-proliferation which began in Washington on Tuesday, said that maintaining this strategic balance was necessary for peace in South Asia.
“This will be our main line in these talks,” he told a news briefing at the Pakistan Embassy. “The perception of the threat from India was the only rationale for Pakistan’s nuclear programme,” said Aizaz. “This is a weapon of deterrence, not for actual use,” he added.
However, the secretary noted that the US-India nuclear deal, signed in 2006, had “affected strategic stability which existed before that.” He pointed out that in a joint statement issued after the nuclear confidence-building talks in January 2004, both India and Pakistan had recognized this as “a factor of strategic stability” in the region.
“Any discriminatory treatment is not good for strategic stability and this has been our consistent line: create a level playing field.” The secretary explained that in the last decade, Pakistan had gained international recognition as a responsible nuclear state.
“We have come a long way in establishing strong export controls against any proliferation of nuclear materials,” he said. “And our export control lists have been harmonised with the multilateral export regime,” he added. Aizaz said that nuclear safety was another strong area where Pakistan had made a considerable progress.
“We have more than four decades of experience in power generation and our nuclear facilities have been completely safe,” he said, adding that there was now an international recognition of Pakistan’s strong credentials. Tuesday’s talks will cover “a whole range of issues” relating to strategic stability in South Asia, including non-proliferation, civil nuclear cooperation, and other areas of nuclear safety, security and strategic stability, he said. Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Rose Eilene Gottemoeller will lead the US team in the talks.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk