Indo-US nuclear deal will have detrimental impact in South Asia: Pakistan

Islamabad: Peeved at the breakthrough in the operationalisation of the Indo-US nuclear deal, Pakistan on Tuesday said the move for “political and economic expediencies” would have a “detrimental” impact on deterrence stability in South Asia. Hours after US President Barack Obama concluded his unprecedented second visit to India, Pakistan Prime Minister’s Adviser on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz opposed India’s bid for membership to the 48-member Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) and a permanent seat in the UN Security Council. [caption id=“attachment_2067047” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. AFP[/caption] “The operationalisation of Indo-US nuclear deal for political and economic expediencies would have a detrimental impact on deterrence stability in South Asia. Pakistan reserves the right to safeguard its national security interests,” he said. During his three-day visit, Obama held wide-ranging talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi as both countries broke a seven-year logjam to operationalise a landmark civil nuclear deal, besides enhancing defence and trade ties. Apart from clearing the obstacles for the implementation of the civil nuclear deal, President Obama reaffirmed the US’ position that India is ready for NSG membership. Reacting to the US’ backing to India’s NSG membership bid, Aziz said, “We have also noted the Joint Statement suggesting that India is ready for NSG membership and other export control regimes. “Pakistan is opposed to yet another country-specific exemption from NSG rules to grant membership to India, as this would further compound the already fragile strategic stability environment in South Asia, would further undermine the credibility of NSG and weaken the non-proliferation regime.” Aziz asserted that Pakistan remains opposed to policies of “selectivity and discrimination”. “Pakistan is not averse to civil nuclear cooperation and NSG membership for non-NPT states provided it is based on the principles of non-discrimination and objective non- proliferation criteria,” he said. He reiterated that Pakistan would continue to maintain its constructive engagement with NSG and other export control regimes to build its case for membership. Aziz also opposed India’s permanent UNSC membership bid, saying, “A country, in violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions on matters of international peace and security, such as the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, by no means qualifies for a special status in the Security Council.” During his India visit, President Obama also reaffirmed his support for a reformed UN Security Council with India as a permanent member. PTI