WASHINGTON, March 11: No world power, including the United States, ever asked Pakistan to give up its nuclear option, not even after the current nuclear scandal, foreign policy experts told Dawn.

The experts, while reviewing the issues that might be discussed when US Secretary of State Colin Powell arrives in Islamabad next week, said even during the visit there will be no pressure on Pakistan to roll back or cap its nuclear or missile programmes.

They said the United States understood that Pakistan had its nuclear option because of India, which started the nuclear race in the subcontinent. Until Pakistan's relations with India improve to an extent where it no longer feels threatened by its larger neighbour, Pakistan would retain its nuclear assets, the experts said.

"There never was any pressure on Pakistan to give up its nuclear programme. It's the political opposition in Pakistan that thought so," said Michael Krepon, founding president of the Henry L. Stimson Centre, Washington.

"I don't foresee Pakistan giving up the nuclear option. It's not going to happen. What Pakistan must do is to control its nuclear materials, its equipment. No country has a worse record on this than Pakistan."

Robert Oakley, a former State Department coordinator for counter-terrorism who also has served as US ambassador to Pakistan, said Mr Powell would want to focus on how Pakistan is handling the question of proliferation, besides other issues.

William Milam, another former US ambassador to Pakistan, says that despite the proliferation, the United States was not going to re-impose nuclear-related sanctions on Pakistan that were removed after Pakistan joined the US-led war on terrorism in 2001.

"A whole range of sanctions, we could re-apply, we are not about to do that," said Mr Milam. "And it is not just because we want their support in the war against terrorism. Our relationship with Pakistan is much wider.'' Mr Milam said.