Minimum N-deterrence will be maintained: FO

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan ‘indirectly’ confirmed on Thursday that it was in the process of expanding its nuclear programme and said it was being done to maintain credible nuclear deterrence in view of the changing security environment in the region.

‘Pakistan cannot remain oblivious to increasing conventional asymmetries, unrelenting arms acquisitions as well as preferential treatment being accorded to certain countries in the region. Such developments disturb the strategic balance and Pakistan is constrained to adopt necessary safeguards as it deems fit,’ Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit said at his weekly media briefing.

US Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen had last week said before a congressional committee that Pakistan was expanding its nuclear arsenal. When asked by a lawmaker if expansion was taking place he replied in the affirmative.

Later, the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security published a report along with satellite images it claimed were of Pakistan’s key military and civilian fuel cycle site near Dera Ghazi Khan undergoing expansion.

Although Mr Basit did not categorically state that the report was correct, he defended the expansion and said it was critical that the nuclear threshold should not be lowered.

‘It is important that asymmetry between Pakistan and India in the context of conventional arms should not be widened too much. We have noticed that there are acquisitions of sophisticated weaponry by our neighbour which will disturb the conventional balance between our two countries and hence, lower the nuclear threshold.’

The spokesman reiterated Pakistan’s commitment to remaining opposed to a nuclear or conventional arms race in South Asia and urged the international community to help maintain strategic balance in the region.

Without naming the United States which has signed a nuclear cooperation pact with India, the spokesman said that discriminatory policies undermining the regional strategic balance should be avoided.

He said that a more positive and effective role could be played by those disturbing the strategic balance if they refrained from taking steps that were unhelpful to nuclear stability in this region.

Mr Basit said the world must not shy away from resolving the lingering Kashmir dispute in the interest of durable peace in the region.

The spokesman criticised what he described as an international campaign against Pakistan’s nuclear programme and warned that it could adversely affect the anti-militancy operations.

‘This malicious campaign against Pakistan, ….., is being launched at a time when Pakistan is actively engaged in major operations against militants. It is counter-productive to the collective objective of defeating the militants and also raises serious doubts in the minds of the people of Pakistan about the objectives of those engaging in negative propaganda.’

He dismissed concerns about the safety of nuclear assets as a non-issue and ruled out any possibility of the arsenal falling into wrong hands. ‘We have full confidence in our procedures, mechanisms and command and control systems.’

He turned down an offer by the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to protect Pakistan’s nuclear assets. ‘We do not need this assistance.’

About the nuclear cooperation with France, the spokesman said Pakistan and France would hold talks on the ‘framework agreement’ in July. The talks would cover a wide range of issues, including cooperation in peaceful uses of nuclear technology and were expected to be concluded by December, he added.

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