Voicing concern over the "incipient" N-deal, Pakistan has said any endorsement of a selective approach would "fatefully damage" the existing consensus on non-proliferation.
UNITED NATIONS: Voicing concern over the "incipient" Indo-US civilian nuclear deal, Pakistan has said any endorsement of a selective approach would "fatefully damage" the existing consensus on disarmament and non-proliferation.
Addressing the United Nations General Assembly here, Pakistan's Foreign Secretary Riaz Mohammad Khan said "the incipient US-India civilian nuclear deal would inject a new element in the region".
Apparently referring to the agreement that India is seeking with the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) in the context of the nuclear accord, he said "In the coming months, the NSG states have a heavy responsibility as any endorsement of a selective or discriminatory approach could fatefully damage the existing consensus on disarmament and non-proliferation".
India has to get a waiver for international nuclear trade from the 45-member NSG to operationalize the atomic deal.
But while opposing the deal, the Pakistan Foreign Secretary said Islamabad has a strong interest in developing civil nuclear power generation under international safeguards.
"We have concerns over strategic stability which we will maintain despite our firm opposition to an arms race in South Asia," he said adding Pakistan would maintain "minimum credible deterrence."
Khan said there is an "obvious need" for a new and universal consensus on non-proliferation, disarmament and peaceful nuclear cooperation that eliminates dangers and risks and establishes cooperation on an equitable basis.
Maintaining that global consensus on disarmament and non-proliferation have been "seriously eroded," Khan said the disavowal of nuclear disarmament by the NPT nuclear weapon states, the emergence of de-facto nuclear weapon states not parties to the NPT, the failure to address the security concerns of non-nuclear weapon states are among the reasons.
Pakistan, Khan said, will not be the first to test another nuclear weapon.
"We will never use our nuclear capability against non-nuclear weapon states," he added, stressing that Pakistan remains fully committed to the objective of general and complete disarmament and nuclear non-proliferation.
"We want to be treated as a partner rather than a target of the global nuclear non-proliferation regime."
Blaming India for Pakistan exercising the nuclear option, Khan said his country started pursuing the nuclear option only after 1974 when the "strategic balance was disrupted by the first Indian nuclear test".
"In 1998, again Pakistan was faced with a dilemma and had to respond to the Indian tests to establish deterrence," he said, adding, "our failure to do so would have created a dangerous ambiguity about our capability with the risk of miscalculation."
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