UNITED NATIONS, Oct 6: Saying that discriminatory approaches in the nuclear or conventional fields will not advance stability in South Asia, Pakistan on Wednesday demanded “parity of treatment” with India.

Addressing the UN General Assembly’s first committee which deals with disarmament matters, Ambassador Masood Khan assured “Pakistan will not use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear weapon states. We are against an open-ended nuclear or conventional arms race in South Asia.”

He noted that “the entire international community has an interest in ensuring strategic stability in South Asia at the lowest possible level and not to accelerate an arms race in the region.”

Mr Khan stressed that “Pakistan’s strategic programme is security driven, not status driven. Pakistan acquired nuclear weapons only after nuclear proliferation had happened in South Asia”.

Mr Khan maintained “in South Asia we need a stable balance of conventional forces to ensure strategic stability between Pakistan and India”, and decried that “massive induction of sophisticated weaponry will accentuate conventional asymmetries and compel greater reliance on nuclear and missile deterrence.”

“There must be restraint both in the demand and the supply on conventional weapons in South Asia,” he added.

Reiterating that in South Asia, Pakistan seeks to promote a strategic restraint regime with India, Mr Khan listed a series of measures to ensure responsible stewardship of the country’s nuclear programme.

MIDDLE EAST: Emphasizing that “resolute efforts should be made to defuse regional tensions and resolve conflicts in the Middle East,” Mr Khan said “Pakistan supports the fulfillment of international obligations by all states and the objective of creating a nuclear weapon free zone in the Middle East.”