Steps taken to prevent WMD proliferation: Munir

Pakistan said on Tuesday that it had established a strong safety culture in its nuclear installations and taken additional measures to prevent proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD).
Ambassador Munir Akram, the Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations, informed the General Assembly that there was no question of Pakistan's nuclear assets falling into wrong hands.
Munir briefed the General Assembly on the steps taken by Pakistan to augment the safety and security of its nuclear installations and to prevent WMD proliferation.
He said effective steps have been taken in co-operation with the international community to eliminate an underground proliferation network which had its tentacles in two dozen countries.
"We have co-operated closely with the IAEA in this endeavour. We urge other concerned countries to do likewise," he added.
The Parliament, he said, has also promulgated a comprehensive Export Control Act to deal with nuclear and biological weapons, material, goods, technologies, equipment and their means of delivery.
"We are confident that there will be no proliferation of WMD from Pakistan," he added.
In a statement on the IAEA report, Ambassador Munir said, Pakistan was highly sensitive to the safety and security of its nuclear installations, as its nuclear power generation was meant for economic development.
He said, "We have further strengthened security measures around our nuclear installations to avoid any possibility of sabotage or illicit acquisition or trafficking of nuclear material."
He assured that Pakistan would continue its active participation in the agency's initiative to strengthen the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material (CPPNM).
"We have, however, made it clear that any provisions in the new Convention which can be construed as legitimising attacks on nuclear facilities are against the international law and morality." This issue requires a satisfactory solution, he added.
He pointed at the role of IAEA in the transfer of safe technology to developing countries, adding, "We hope that the agency would formulate a comprehensive policy towards this end."
He said Pakistan is also interested in playing a role in the international effort to promote International Project on Innovative Nuclear Reactors and Fuel Cycle (INPRO) so as to benefit from the safe, cost-effective and proliferation resistant nuclear power plants in future.
Munir Akram called for focussing attention on securing 'orphan' sources of such materials, which pose an immediate danger of falling into the wrong hands.
However, he said, the agency's safeguards should not be used to serve partisan political objectives.