LAHORE, Jan 30: Kahuta Research Laboratories chairman Dr Javed Arshad Mirza said on Thursday that there was no foreign pressure regarding KRL’s nuclear and missile programmes.

He was talking to reporters at the concluding session of the ninth National Symposium on Frontiers of Physics in the Government College University.

He said that the KRL had no inside and outside pressure with regard to its important work, adding that the government would never let the laboratories come under any sort of pressure. He also denied the impression that the KRL had been under pressure with regard to its nuclear programme in 1998.

Replying to a question, the KRL chairman said that Pakistan had never enjoyed any outside help in developing its missile programme, which was “purely indigenous”.

India on the other hand, he claimed, was developing its missile programme with the help of other countries.

Pakistan was not having a missile-test race against India, he said and added: “We conduct tests only according to technical requirements.”

He said the KRL was also developing a missile defence system, which would be one of its priorities in future.

Dr Mirza said the KRL was developing laser technology and had also expedited research work. He said the private sector had been very helpful in various KRL productions.

He said two nuclear power plants had been established in Karachi and Chashma while another was being set up near Chashma.

Earlier, addressing the symposium, Dr Mirza said impact of physics on our lives ranged from high-profile industries of communications and electronics to sports and food sciences.

He said techniques for controlling single particles like atoms and photons were allowing physicists to test the quantum theory in new ways and had also paved way for quantum cryptography and computing. He said nuclear physics had been given a boost by the discovery of new isotopes and decay phenomena.

Dr Mirza said the KRL was sharing its knowledge and expertise with other research and development organizations and forums in the country. It had also developed liaisons with the local industry. He said that close relations between research and educational institutions could not be neglected either.