'Unilateral favour for India to create security imbalance'

27 Apr, 2006

Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri on Wednesday emphasised the need for a package approach towards Pakistan and India regarding transfer of civilian nuclear technology.
Talking to German journalists and giving interviews to leading German newspapers in Berlin, he said unilateral concession for India would disturb the regional security balance in South Asia.
Foreign Minister underlined the need for a package approach by the Nuclear Suppliers Group countries (NSG) in extending civilian nuclear co-operation to Pakistan and India to ensure that the regional strategic balance between India and Pakistan remained undisturbed.
Kasuri stressed a package approach towards Pakistan and India in this regard.
He said that Pakistan was also energy deficient in the long run and that it would be more prudent, pragmatic and just that the genuine civil nuclear energy needs of both Pakistan and India were addressed by the NSG. Foreign Minister Kasuri reiterated that Pakistan had iron clad nuclear export controls and added it had a very strong and effective National Command Authority, and impeccable arrangements were in place to ensure non-proliferation.
Giving details of Pak-India dialogue process, Kasuri said Pakistan had already proposed a Strategic Restraint Regime to India, which could help promote stability in the region, as well as address non-proliferation concerns.
He further said the confidence building measures and ongoing composite dialogue had improved the atmospheres. He said no concrete progress had been made on the Kashmir issue, which rendered the whole peace process very fragile. Kasuri said the issues like Siachen and Sir Creek, which were easier to settle, had also not been solved, which had led some cynics to believe that the peace process was not yielding the expected results.

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