ISLAMABAD, Jan 25: Former Chief of Army Staff General Aslam Beg has said that Pakistan had taken a crucial decision during the first government of Benazir Bhutto not to proliferate nuclear technology to any country.

In an interview to a private television channel on Saturday, he said that in a meeting of Nuclear Command and Control Authority, which was presided over by then president Ghulam Ishaq Khan and attended by prime minister Benazir Bhutto and himself, it was decided to practise nuclear restraint and adopt a balanced course.

He said the then troika of political leadership had taken four important decisions. It was decided that Pakistan would not pursue a nuclear arms race with India; it would not build a stockpile of fissile material. The level of uranium enrichment was brought down from weapons grade (over) 95 per cent to 5 per cent and less, which was required for nuclear power plants. This was done as Pakistan had accomplished the nuclear objectives set by the late Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto.

"We had the capability and we had the delivery system," Gen Beg said. It was also decided that Pakistan would not proliferate nuclear technology to any country.

Lastly, he said, a decision was taken about not going for nuclear explosion as Pakistan had accomplished results through simulated laboratory tests. He denied that he had proposed to sell nuclear technology to Iran, saying, "it's a lie, a slander."

He was asked about former commerce minister Ishaq Dar's allegation that Mr Beg had proposed to the former prime minister Nawaz Sharif to sell nuclear technology to Iran and that it was rejected by the then premier Sharif.

"This is just a political statement," Gen Beg said while rejecting a similar allegation by another PML-N stalwart Chaudhary Nisar. PPP spokesman senator Farhatullah Babar, while giving his reaction on the statement, said: "Under Benazir Bhutto the policy was not to transfer nuclear technology and there was to be no assembly (of nuclear device parts) until the security of the country was threatened."