New Delhi/Islamabad, March 22: India has cautioned the United States against entering into civil nuclear cooperation with Pakistan in disregard of that country’s poor non-proliferation record. It hoped the international community would strike the right balance between meeting Pakistan’s energy needs while taking on board its track record with regard to proliferation of nuclear technology and weapons of mass destruction.
External affairs minister S.M. Krishna amplified New Delhi’s concerns by reminding the US that the proliferation of nuclear weapons was because of indiscretions of certain countries, and particularly clandestine activities by Pakistan. “[This aspect] will have to be kept in mind... I am sure the US will,” Mr Krishna said here, adding: “I am sure that the US will constantly remember that”.
New Delhi was responding to media reports here citing US ambassador to Pakistan Anne Patterson saying the US is “beginning to have a discussion with the Pakistan government” on its desire to tap nuclear energy — a departure from the earlier US stand. “We are beginning to have a discussion with the Pakistan government” on civil nuclear energy, Ms Patterson was quoted as saying in Pakistan Link, a Los Angeles-based Pakistani newspaper.
“We are going to have working-level talks” on the issue in Washington in March, she said. The envoy noted that earlier America’s “non-proliferation concerns were quite severe”,
but attitudes in Washington were changing. “I think we are beginning to pass those and this is a scenario that we are going to explore,” the report said, quoting Ms Patterson.
Her statement marks a significant shift in the US position as it had repeatedly turned down Pakistan’s pleas for an India-type civil nuclear deal.
The US had been arguing that Pakistan’s track record was not as good as that of India, which had a strong history of non-proliferation. US ambassador to India Timothy J. Roemer refused to comment when his attention was drawn to Ms Patterson’s remarks, saying he was working fulltime on implementation of the India-US nuclear deal.
Mr Roemer was speaking to the media on the sidelines of an event organised by USAID on clean water and sanitation at a slum cluster here on the occasion of World Water Day.
A PTI report from Islamabad said, meanwhile, that the US embassy had dismissed reports that it was mulling negotiations on a civil nuclear agreement with Pakistan. “The US has not entered (into) negotiations on a civil nuclear agreement with Pakistan,” an embassy spokesperson told PTI there.
“The US is committed to helping Pakistan address its real and growing energy needs, and we look forward to cooperating with Pakistan in ways that are compatible with Pakistan’s economic, environmental and security needs and with US international
commitments and policies,” the US embassy spokesperson in Islamabad noted.
Age Correspondent
With agency inputs