ISLAMABAD, March 6: The United States has promised to meet Pakistan’s nuclear energy requirements and a “structured dialogue” on the issue will begin when US Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman arrives here soon, according to Dr Salman Shah, the prime minister’s adviser on finance.

“The new strategic partnership between the United States and Pakistan will lead to a breakthrough in many important economic and defence matters, including acquisition of civilian nuclear technology for Islamabad,” Dr Shah told Dawn on Monday.

The issue of acquiring nuclear energy, he said, was one of the major topics of discussion between President George W. Bush and President Gen Pervez Musharraf and “we are quite satisfied about it”.

He dismissed as “wrong” the perception that President Bush had refused to oblige Pakistan on the issue of extending nuclear technology for civilian purposes. The fact of the matter, he said, was that President Musharraf effectively raised the nuclear issue during talks with President Bush that led to the “better understanding” between the two countries.

“Since the US president was convinced about Pakistan’s legitimate nuclear-related energy requirements, he decided to hold formal discussions on the issue by sending his secretary of energy to Islamabad soon,” he added.

The president is believed to have urged Mr Bush to request American investors to invest in Pakistan’s proposed “designated industrial parks” and set up nuclear power plants on their own or through joint ventures with their local partners.

These parks, the US president was told, could be set up under full safeguards of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

In response to a question, Dr Shah pointed out that it was unfair to draw a parallel with India and said Washington and New Delhi had been discussing the issue of civilian nuclear energy for quite some time and the matter was concluded when President Bush visited that country before coming to Pakistan last week.

“It always takes time to finalise important issues like nuclear technology. Therefore, I would urge you to bear with us for some time and avoid jumping to conclusions,” Dr Shah said.

According to him, a number of issues are likely to be settled between the two countries in the next few weeks, including the signing of a bilateral investment treaty (BIT), which will follow an agreement on free trade.

Dr Shah said the US president had promised to offer duty-free access to Pakistani products to be manufactured in the proposed reconstruction opportunity zones (ROZs) along the Afghan border.

However, informed sources said, the government has decided to “pursue more vigorously” the issue of getting more nuclear power plants from China.