Pakistan warns India against nuclear tests
PAKISTAN: Pakistan hinted it would renounce its unilateral
moratorium on nuclear testing if India were to resume trials, last
carried out by both countries nine years ago.
New Delhi has said its right to conduct tests will not be undermined
by a bilateral civilian nuclear deal with the United States which has
raised concerns here.
Washington has said there would be no such deal with Pakistan, its
front-line ally in the ongoing battle to contain global terrorism.
“We take seriously the assertions by the India leadership about the
possibility of resuming nuclear tests,” foreign ministry spokeswoman
Tasnim Aslam told a weekly briefing.
“Resumption of nuclear tests by India would create a serious
situation obliging Pakistan to review its position and to take action,
appropriate and consistent with our supreme national interest,” she
said.
Under the agreement with Washington, New Delhi can buy atomic fuel,
technology and plants even though it is not party to the nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). The agreement, finalised last month
after nearly two years of negotiations, has drawn heavy and widespread
criticism from Indian opposition parties and the government’s communist
allies, who say it will limit India’s strategic options.
Aslam said that Pakistan had proposed a nuclear test ban treaty to
India to end the arms race in South Asia.
“Pakistan continues to adhere to its unilateral moratorium on
testing. We have also proposed to India a bilateral agreement on a test
ban,” she said.
“Pakistan does not want a nuclear arms race in the region but at the
same time we are committed to maintain a credible minimum deterrence in
the interest of strategic balance which is indispensable for peace in
the region.”
“We have been emphasising repeatedly that Pakistan has also its
energy needs and we have future energy procurement plans which include
the development of civilian nuclear power plants,” she said.
“We want to develop civilian nuclear power generation under
international safeguards.
“Pakistan is fully committed to non-proliferation and we believe that
for effectiveness of the global nuclear non-proliferation regime
Pakistan must be treated and viewed as a partner.”
Pakistan has also raised eyebrows over an Australian bid to sell
uranium to India, saying it would tilt the strategic balance in New
Delhi’s favour.
“Like the US-India nuclear deal, the decision by Australia to sell
uranium to India is a matter which warrants close attention. Any
development that can impinge on the strategic balance in South Asia is a
matter of vital concern to us,” Aslam said.
A US report said earlier this year that Pakistan was building a third
nuclear reactor to produce material for atomic bombs.
Pakistan has also been at the centre of international concerns over a
black market run by its disgraced top nuclear scientist, Abdul Qadeer
Khan, who admitted in 2004 to passing atomic secrets to Iran, North
Korea and Libya.
Islamabad, Tuesday, AFP. |