Islamabad, August 20
Pakistan today hinted that it would review its unilateral moratorium on exploding atomic bombs, if India resumed nuclear tests, last carried out by the two countries nine years back.
Foreign Office spokesperson Tasnim Aslam said India’s sovereign right to conduct nuclear tests being preserved in the Indo-US nuclear deal should be a “source of concern” not just for Pakistan but to the international community as well.
Pakistan continues to maintain a unilateral moratorium on nuclear testing and has also proposed to India a bilateral agreement on a test ban, the spokesperson said at her weekly press briefing.
She said any resumption of nuclear tests by India would create a “serious situation” and Pakistan would have to review its position and take action that was consistent with its supreme national interests.
On Australia’s decision to sell uranium to India, the spokesperson said like the Indo-US nuclear accord, this deal also warranted close attention. She said any development that could impinge on strategic balance in South Asia was a matter of vital concern to Pakistan.
Pakistan did not want a nuclear arms race in the region but at the same time it was committed to maintaining a credible minimum deterrence in the interest of strategic balance, which was vital for regional peace, she said. She pointed out that Pakistan also had its energy needs and its plans include development of nuclear power plants under international safeguards.
— PTI
