WASHINGTON, April 16: The United States says it is actively engaged in discussions on the risks that the nuclear-weapons programmes of Pakistan and India pose to stability in South Asia, and nonproliferation in the region remains an issue with Washington.

Briefing foreign correspondents on Tuesday, assistant secretary of state for nonproliferation, John Wolf, asserted that the lifting of sanctions against India and Pakistan last autumn “doesn’t mean that nonproliferation is no longer an issue for us.”

Mr Wolf said the situation in South Asia remained one that was “very worrisome”. Tensions had come down, but both Pakistan and India were armed with nuclear weapons and missiles, and that was a matter of concern.

“Hopefully, as the tensions ease, both countries will look at this crisis and look at ways to adopt the kinds of confidence-building measures that would reduce the risks of a nuclear exchange in South Asia,” he said.

“I’m not saying that that’s where things are going, but there is the risk. These are new capabilities. The doctrine is still to be well-defined, and I think it’s important that both countries, separately and together, over time find ways to reduce the risks of accidental warfare.”

Mr Wolf went on to say that the risks of proliferation from South Asia were real, and Pakistan and India needed to pay continuing close attention to the risks that individuals might seek to exploit and export controls that were not sufficient for the task.

“It’s not to say that export controls in South Asia or in Russia or in China are weak and export controls here in the United States are strong. We have our own problems here. But we work very actively in trying to enforce our export controls. When we look for people who are violating them; when we find them, we try them. If they’re found guilty, we punish them. Governments needed to ban together to stop the threat that “individuals will always pose,” he said.