ISLAMABAD, Sept 19: In a pointed message to the United States and other Western countries, Pakistan said on Monday that any discriminatory treatment on the question of civilian nuclear technology would not be acceptable to it.
“We would like the United States and the Western countries to provide the same kind of treatment to Pakistan as they are giving to India and we would not like to accept any discriminatory treatment in this regard,” Foreign Office spokesman Naeem Khan told a news briefing.
Asserting that Pakistan was a responsible nuclear state, the spokesman said: “We expect the Western countries, especially the United States, will respond to our expanding requirements in the energy sector and will cooperate with Pakistan because all our nuclear facilities are under IAEA safeguards.”
Mr Khan was non-committal when asked if President Pervez Musharraf had raised the issue of nuclear technology with President George W. Bush during his recent meeting with him in New York.
NUCLEAR DOCTRINE: Responding to a question about reports of the latest US preemptive nuclear doctrine, Mr Khan said: “Pakistan itself is a nuclear weapon state and maintenance of minimum nuclear deterrence is indispensable to our security but we are against the use of nuclear weapons.”
He then added: “Any doctrine that allows use of nuclear weapons for the purpose of preemption undoubtedly creates a deep sense of concern and anxiety in the international community.”
NY MEETING: In reply to a question, Mr Khan termed the recent Musharraf-Manmohan Summit meeting in New York as “very constructive and productive” and said detailed discussions were held on all bilateral issues, including Jammu and Kashmir.
Dispelling the impression that there had been no forward movement, he said that the two leaders reaffirmed their commitment to the ongoing peace process. While pointing to the complexities of certain issues involved, he asserted there was no reason to be pessimistic and insisted the peace process was on track. The fact that the Indian prime minister had accepted the invitation to visit Pakistan was a positive development, he said.
The spokesman indicated that some progress on Sir Creek and Siachen issues had been made and in this context “some ideas” had also been exchanged at the foreign secretary level meeting in Islamabad.
He did not rule out the possibility of Indian-held Kashmir’s Chief Minister Mufti Sayed and other Kashmiri leaders, including Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah, visiting Pakistan.
KISHANGANGA & BAGLIHAR: Mr Khan announced that Pakistan and India had agreed to hold talks on the Kishanganga dam issue on Nov 7-12. He said initially the Pakistani delegation would visit the dam site and then the meeting would be held in New Delhi on Nov 10-11. The delegation would return to Pakistan on Nov 12.
Mr Khan also informed the news briefing that the World Bank appointed neutral expert on the Baglihar dam issue would visit the region from Oct 1 to 7. He said experts from both Pakistan and India would accompany the World Bank expert to the site of the dam.
NATWAR’S VISIT: Mr Khan confirmed that the Indian Foreign Minister Natwar Singh would visit Pakistan from Oct 3 to 5 to review the composite dialogue process. He said during the visit a meeting of the joint commission set up in 1983 would also be held.
The spokesman said the government had also proposed to the Indian side dates of Sept 27-28 for technical-level talks on the Air Services Agreement to be held in Pakistan. However, he said the Indian response was still awaited.
ISRAEL: Responding to a question, the spokesman said that President Musharraf’s chance meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was not planned one. He said that a planned meeting would have been conducted in a different setting.
SIX-PARTY TALKS: On Pakistan’s position regarding the six-party talks, Mr Khan said: “We support the six-party talks and we are for the de-nuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula.”
In a separate statement issued later, he said Pakistan welcomed the outcome of the six-party talks held in Beijing with the announcement of decision by Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK) to abandon its nuclear programme and allowing inspection of its nuclear facilities by IAEA.
PAKISTANIS: On the fate of eight Pakistanis held in Iraq, the spokesman said he had no update on it.