November 6, 2001	Tuesday	Shaba’an 19, 1422

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NEW DELHI, Nov 5: US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Monday brushed aside fears about Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal after talks in India at the end of a five-nation trip.

Mr Rumsfeld said Washington was not worried about Islamabad’s nuclear weapons getting into the wrong hands.

“I do not personally believe that there is a risk with respect to countries that have nuclear weapons,” Rumsfeld said at a news conference with Indian Defence Minister George Fernandes.

“The countries that have nuclear weapons have a healthy respect of the power and lethality of these weapons and they take steps to manage their safe handling,” Rumsfeld said in response to a question about Pakistan.

Rumsfeld said he and Fernandes “talked about terrorism in the broader sense, which has affected both our countries”.

“The effort against terrorism is a global one and involves terrorists wherever they are. This is much bigger than Afghanistan,” he said.

Afghanistan only “happens to be the first problem. The president (George W. Bush) has been unambiguous that we will tackle terrorism wherever it is,” he added.—AFP