LAHORE: The US Secretary of State Dr. Henry Kissinger today [Aug 9] said that his country would continue its negotiations with Pakistan over the question of nuclear reprocessing plant with a determination to avoid confrontation. Dr Kissinger was addressing a … Press conference in the VIP lounge of Lahore airport just before his departure for Paris… . Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was also present… . [Dr Kissinger,] who faced a volley of questions on the subject … maintained that the US was concerned about proliferation of nuclear weapons which could have disastrous effects on the future of mankind. The concern of his Government was not directed towards intentions of Pakistan but towards the general problem of proliferation of nuclear arms… .

He noted that Pakistan had entered into an agreement with France … after years of negotiations and the agreement provided for all the appropriate safeguards. … Most of the questions put to Dr Kissinger related to the reprocessing plant which Pakistan is buying from France. … [He] … said the reprocessing plant question was a ‘complicated issue’.

Published in Dawn, August 10th, 2026