The Pakistani foreign office on Friday refused to react to US special envoy Richard Holbrooke’s comment that Washington had asked Islamabad to provide more information about a civilian nuclear deal with Beijing.
The Pakistani foreign office on Friday refused to react to US special envoy Richard Holbrooke’s comment that Washington had asked Islamabad to provide more information about a civilian nuclear deal with Beijing. This came amid reports that China’s main nuclear energy corporation was in talks with Islamabad to build a one-gigawatt atomic power plant in Pakistan.
Holbrooke’s comment, during an interview with visiting Pakistani journalists in Washington, followed a comment by his deputy Frank Ruggiero, that the US was not in talks with the Pakistanis on civil nuclear cooperation.
The foreign office spokesman said decision-makers in Islamabad were examining the US special envoy’s comment and would react if and when necessary.
Holbrooke, commenting on US objections to the Pakistan-China arrangement, had said: “We have asked for more information on the Chinese-Pakistan arrangement to see how they fit in with international regimes.” However, Pakistan may quietly try to persuade the Obama administration to withdraw its objection to an arrangement it has made with China for building civil nuclear plants at Chashma in the Punjab province.
Holbrooke had acknowledged that Pakistan-India tension affected the situation in Afghanis-tan and the US was willing to help reduce the tension. But he made it clear that the US could not play any mediatory role in resolving the Kashmir dispute, the main cause for tension between the two nuclear-armed nations.
China helped Pakistan build its main nuclear power facility at Chashma, where a reactor is running, and another is nearing completion. It has contracts to build two more reactors there.
Pakistan and China had signed contracts to build the No 3 and 4 reactors of about 300 megawatts each at Chashma. After the safe operation of the first 300-megawatt reactor in Chashma, the second reactor is undergoing tests and is expected to start formal operations by the year-end.
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