India has not yet responded to Pakistan's offer of nuclear restraint regime, Foreign Office said on Monday, adding that Pakistan is also ready to constructively engage its nuclear neighbour if and when talks begin on fissile material cut-off treaty.
At the weekly media briefing, the Foreign Office spokesperson, Tasneem Aslam, did not agree with a reported statement of US Secretary of State that Washington had kept Pakistan informed, step by step, about the Indo-US nuclear deal. She said that the agreement, as signed with India, was quite different from the one the United States had conveyed to Pakistan.
She said that Pakistan wants the US to adopt a package approach, because Pakistan also has its energy requirements.
She said that Pakistan's concern was also heightened by the fact that there were certain provisions in the said agreement, which have negative implications for strategic stability in the region. "The agreement is also discriminatory because both Pakistan and India are nuclear weapons' states," she added.
Tasneem once again dismissed as concocted the story published in a local newspaper that Pakistan had bribed the '9/11 commission' to influence its findings.
She said that Pakistan was not in a position to sign the convention on landmines "as it has specific defence requirements" due to its lengthy borders.
Comment on a statement by American Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher about democracy in Pakistan, the spokesperson said it was a matter for the government and the people of Pakistan.
About American request for observer status in the Saarc, she said the Saarc standing committee would be meeting in Dhaka on Tuesday and it would consider the issue of setting the criteria for admission of observers. She said that the Dhaka meeting would also consider granting of observer status to China and Japan.
About Iran, she said that Pakistan wants the controversy about its nuclear programme to be resolved within the framework of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). She said IAEA teams are already in Iran, and hoped that there would be some forward movement. She added that Pakistan "is against military action" as "we don't want any more instability in the region".
The spokesperson said that during the visit here of President Ali Abdullah Saleh of Yemen, Pakistan and Yemen would sign five agreements to strengthen co-operation in diverse fields. These relate to co-operation in tourism, investment, media, sports and youth affairs. An MOU on co-operation in the field of standards, quality and specifications would also be signed, she added.
About visit of the Saudi Crown Prince to Pakistan, she said it would be announced next week.
The FO spokesperson said Pakistan had protested with India over the killing of a Pakistani fisherman. An official of Indian High Commission was summoned to the Foreign Office to lodge protest over the unprovoked act, she said. A fishing boat of Pakistan was attacked by an Indian Navy vessel and helicopter on March 18, while it was within Pakistan's exclusive economic zone.
Emphasising the need to avoid such incidents, she said that "we must respect each other's territorial integrity, territorial waters and exclusive economic zones"
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