'US concerned at Pak-China nuclear deal'
ISLAMABAD (July 20 2010): The US secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said that international community and Nuclear Supplier Groups (NSG) had some concerns over Pakistan-China nuclear deal.
"We are aware of Pakistan energy needs but on nuclear deal with China the international community has some questions which must be answered," she said in response to a questioner at a news conferring that she addressed along with her Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi at the end of second round of Strategic Dialogue.
She said that Pakistan was aware of international community's concerns and NSG questions on nuclear deal with China. Foreign Minister Qureshi said Pakistan would satisfy the world community on its nuclear deal. Pakistan has been facing severe energy crisis and wanted to opt for nuclear deal to overcome the power deficiency badly affecting the economy and social life, he added. "We are fully aware of international obligations on nuclear proliferation," he said adding that Pakistan had over 35 years experience in nuclear technology and was fully abiding by international obligations.
AFP adds: The United States has conveyed its "concerns" to Islamabad over China's sale of two civilian nuclear reactors to Pakistan, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told a press conference Monday. Washington has already sought clarification from Beijing on the deal to build two new 650-megawatt reactors in Punjab, saying it must be approved by the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG).
"We believe that the NSG, which has recently met to examine the sale that you are referring to, has posed a series of questions that should be answered because as part of any kind of transaction involving nuclear power, there are concerns by international community, Pakistan knows that," said Clinton. "We have conveyed them (concerns), other members of the NSG conveyed them and we look forward to answers of those questions posed," she told reporters in Islamabad.
The deal was revealed in the British press in April and comes after China in 2004 entered the NSG, a group of nuclear energy states that forbids exports to nations lacking strict International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards. The United States in 2008 signed a landmark nuclear agreement with Pakistan's arch-rival India and some analysts believe that lay the ground for the deal with China.
Pakistan has pressed the United States for a nuclear deal similar to India's. Clinton on Monday said "intensive discussion" had begun to explore a civil nuclear deal with Pakistan, but outlined issues to be addressed including rigorous controls over the export of nuclear information and material.
"Export controls, and the problem with Mr AQ Khan raises a red flag for people around the world and not just in the USA, because we can trace the export of nuclear information and material from Pakistan through all kinds of channels to many different countries. That is an issue," Clinton told a town hall meeting in Islamabad.
Clinton also criticised Pakistan for standing in the way of a proposed international treaty to prohibit the further production of fissile material for nuclear weapons or other explosive devices. "I just want you to understand that we are fulfilling our commitment to pursue this... but it is not a one-way street," she said. "There has to be an awareness that certain questions that people have in their minds... must be addressed," Clinton added.
Business Recorder [Pakistan's First Financial Daily]