Urging the Pakistan government to address United States' proliferation concerns, former Foreign Minister Abdus Sattar has sought production of more fissile uranium for the country's weapons programme and expansion of nuclear cooperation with China to counter the Indo-US nuclear deal.
"Pakistan cannot afford to ignore concerns in Washington due to Pakistan's past failure in preventing leakage of sensitive nuclear technology by greedy persons in the Kahuta plant," he said, referring to disgraced scientist A Q Khan, who headed the principle nuclear installation. Khan is in house detention since he admitted to supplying nuclear technology to Iran, North Korea and Libya.
Won't accept N-discrimination: Pak
The US Congress will approve the deal with few conditions and Pakistan should formulate concrete and rational policies to deal with the consequences, he said in an article in Pakistan Observer daily, adding, "A more appropriate policy response would be replication of the Kahuta plant to produce more fissile uranium necessary to rationalise and upgrade Pakistan's minimum deterrence capability."
He also stressed on intensification of cooperation with China in nuclear power sector and a vigorous diplomatic efforts to persuade others to sell it modern power reactors. Asserting that the issue of proliferation cannot be swept under the carpet by verbal assurances, he said, "The apparent reason for the deal being not extended to Pakistan was the fear of US and Western countries about the safety of Islamabad's nuclear weapons and the chances of them falling into the hands of terrorists."
'India's special status to affect South Asia'
"Indo-US deal was one sided in which Bush administration capitulated in the face of Indian refusal to limit its burgeoning nuclear weapons programme. The denial of a similar deal to Pakistan would result in destabilisation of the precarious strategic balance between India and Pakistan," he added.
The comments came as Pakistan launched a concerted campaign against the deal after the Bush administration last week submitted a bill to the US Congress, seeking amendment to its laws for the implementation of the pact. President Pervez Musharraf and Foreign Minister Khurshid M Kasuri attacked the agreement saying that it would 'unravel' the non-proliferation treaty and disturb the strategic balance between India and Pakistan leading to nuclear arms race.
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