Pakistan is maintaining a minimum nuclear deterrent capability and its determined ongoing anti-terrorism effort should not be confused with the nuclear programme but seen and supported in its proper perspective, Islamabad's top diplomat in Washington said.
"Everybody in the United States government who knows anything about nuclear weapons knows that Pakistan has a very secure nuclear programme. It's a very limited nuclear programme to maintain deterrence vis-à-vis our (eastern) neighbour (India)," Ambassador Husain Haqqani told CNN news channel.
"And, at the same time, Pakistan is willing to engage with our neighbour for a comprehensive settlement in which the nuclear weapons can be phased out by both countries," he added. He said top Obama administration officials have acknowledged Pakistan's strict nuclear safeguards and are assured that Islamabad would not divert US aid to expansion of its nuclear programme.
"I think that the assurance has already been given by no less a person than the Secretary of State (Hillary Clinton) of the United States government -- Pakistan's nuclear weapons are safe and Pakistan is not going to expand nuclear weapons capability to a point when it becomes a threat to any country in the world, including our neighbours."
The envoy ruled out sharing information on secret location of Pakistan's nuclear assets. "I don't think any country knows or tells the location of all its nuclear weapons to any country in the world. The Soviet Union never did it with the United States until, and after comprehensive negotiations between the US and Soviet Union started. So whenever that starts between Pakistan and its eastern neighbour, we will move in that direction."
He asked the American media to desist from shifting the attention away from fight against terrorists, who, he stressed, pose a threat to the United States. "But I don't think Pakistan's nuclear weapons are a threat to the United States. I think the threat to the United States right now comes from terrorists that might be in Afghanistan or in parts of Pakistan. And Pakistan is doing a great job fighting those terrorists right now."
"I think we don't need to go into whether it's expanding its nuclear arsenal or not. We are maintaining our minimum deterrence vis-à-vis our neighbour -- I think that a lot of times when countries like Pakistan are discussed, the media - which includes you, my friend - has a tendency to create some kind of shorthand about those places. So talking about nuclear weapons is one of those things."
Haqqani also hit back at critics of the country's current counterinsurgency strategy in the north-western Malakand division. "Here is the problem. If we do not fight the Taliban, people blame us for not fighting the Taliban. When we fight them, then the method of fighting becomes the issue. "I think it is important to fight the terrorists and defeat them.
And I think that we can have all the quarterbacking, we can have, all the commentary we can have after the game, but let us fight this fight, win it and, at the same time, provide relief for the people who are becoming victims of this - of whatever the strategy is that people are criticising.