Daily times

US N-cooperation only India-specific, Pakistan told

By Zulfiqar Ghuman

January 25, 2006  

ISLAMABAD: The United States has conveyed to Pakistan that India-US civil nuclear cooperation is only specific to India, and such cooperation with Pakistan is unlikely because of its track record.

Sources said that the message was conveyed to Pakistan in a two-and-a-half-hour meeting between government and opposition members of the current set up and US Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns, at the residence of US Ambassador to Pakistan Ryan C Crocker. “The civil nuclear cooperation between India and the US is only India-specific. Such cooperation with Pakistan is unlikely at present because of Pakistan’s track record on nuclear proliferation. India, on the other hand, has maintained a record of abiding by the Non-Proliferation Treaty,” sources quoted Burns as saying.

The meeting was attended by former foreign secretary Riaz Khokhar, Major General Jamshed Ayaz and Lt Gen Imtiaz Alam, who briefed Burns on Pakistan’s defence needs in the wake of the ongoing Pakistan-India confidence-building measures. Muhammad Ali Durrani, the special advisor to the prime minister, and Senator Abdullah Riar of the Pakistan People’s Party Parliamentarians represented the government and opposition at the meeting.

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