News
Tuesday, April 11,
2006
Indian N-deal exceeds brief to Pakistan: FO
Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: The civilian nuclear technology cooperation
agreement between India and the United States was “quite different”
to what Washington had been conveying to Islamabad, the Foreign Office
said on Monday.
FO spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam contradicted a statement
made by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to the US House Foreign
Relations Committee that Pakistan had been kept informed all along
as the US negotiated a civilian nuclear technology cooperation deal
with India.
She told a weekly press briefing that Islamabad wanted
Washington to adopt a “package approach” towards Pakistan
and India because Pakistan also had energy requirements. She said
the agreement might have implications for strategic stability in the
region, and it was discriminatory because both Pakistan and India
are nuclear weapons state. Aslam said Pakistan was disappointed that
India had not responded to its proposal for a nuclear restraint regime
in the region. Pakistan is also ready to participate in negotiations
on a fissile materials treaty, Aslam said.
The spokeswoman said Pakistan had protested to India
over the killing of a Pakistani fisherman. An Indian High Commission
official was summoned to the Foreign Office to protest.
The fisherman was killed when his boat was attacked
by an Indian coastguard vessel and helicopter on March 18 in Pakistan’s
territorial waters, she said.
To another question, she said Pakistan was not in a
position to sign the convention on landmines because it has specific
defence requirements due to its long borders.
Asked to comment on a statement by US Assistant Secretary
of State for South Asia Richard Boucher about democracy in Pakistan,
she said it was a matter for the government and people of Pakistan.
To a question about the American request for observer
status in the South Asia Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC),
she said the SAARC standing committee would meet in Dhaka on Tuesday
to consider the question of setting criteria for admission of observers.
China and Japan have also applied for observer status.
About Iran, she said Pakistan was against military action
and “we don’t want any more instability in the region”.
Courtesy DailyTimes.com.pk