Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani on Monday made a strong case for US civilian nuclear co-operation with Pakistan and asked the Obama Administration to adopt a non-discriminatory approach in terms of giving Islamabad access to civilian nuclear technology. He argued that such a step would help make the existing Pakistan-US engagement more productive and result-oriented.
"We are satisfied with the outcome of recently concluded fourth round of Strategic Dialogue with the United States. I, however, believe that there is still the need and space for improving upon the existing level of our engagement to make it more result-oriented," he stated in an interaction with the American media.
The Pakistani leader spoke on the sidelines of a major two-day nuclear security summit being hosted by President Barack Obama, who held a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Gilani on Sunday. "Pakistan rightfully expects the United States to adopt non-discrimination in terms of civil nuclear deal with Islamabad," Gilani emphasised.
The prime minister welcomed President Barack Obama's initiative of the Nuclear Security Summit to foster understanding of the need to make the world a safer place for future generations. "The objectives of nuclear non-proliferation, safety and security would be better served if the policy of non-discrimination is adopted across the globe for peaceful uses of nuclear energy".
In this context, he pointed out the worst ever energy crisis hitting Pakistan in face of its fast-expanding development requirements and said the issue has serious implications for the country's economy and consequent unbearable hardships for people who are having to brave 15 hours of power outages in over 45 degrees centigrade simmering temperatures.
"Our energy needs are growing with every passing day and we are already running against time to explore viable options to meet the energy demands for our socio-economic development. The civil nuclear power generation hence is an essential requirement of our national energy security strategy", the Prime Minister maintained. In answer to a question, Prime Minister Gilani said the A Q Khan chapter is closed and held out a firm assurance that Islamabad has an effective command and control structure which ensures multi-layered security of Pakistani installations, materials and assets. "Pakistan's nuclear capabilities are in safe hands," he declared.