Pakistan wants India's n-programme under IAEA safeguards
Monday - February 6, 2017 10:28 pm ,
Category : WORLD
Islamabad: Pakistan wants India to bring its entire civilian nuclear programme under the safeguards laid out by the International Atomic Energy Commission (IAEA), Director General (Disarmament) at the Foreign Office Kamran Akhtar said.
"It is incumbent on us to stand up for our own interest. We want an assurance that India's whole three-stage nuclear power programme would be under safeguards," Akhtar was quoted by Dawn News as saying.
Pakistan will not agree to Fissile Material Cut-Off Treaty (FMCT) until it gets the assurance from India, he added.
He said negotiating a treaty that only bans future production of fissile material without taking into account the existing stockpiles would freeze "the existing asymmetries".
The Director General Disarmament said that India has been given "discriminatory waivers", which add to Pakistan's security concerns.
He said that eight of the Indian reactors, its fast breeder programme and approximately five tonnes of reactor-grade plutonium were included in the safeguards of dictated by the IAEA.
The FMCT would put Pakistan at a permanent disadvantage and undermine its security interests, Akhtar added.
There is a fear that the reactors not mandated by the safeguards might be used clandestinely for plutonium production and the existing stockpiles might be diverted to a military programme at a subsequent stage, the DG said.
--IANS
"It is incumbent on us to stand up for our own interest. We want an assurance that India's whole three-stage nuclear power programme would be under safeguards," Akhtar was quoted by Dawn News as saying.
Pakistan will not agree to Fissile Material Cut-Off Treaty (FMCT) until it gets the assurance from India, he added.
He said negotiating a treaty that only bans future production of fissile material without taking into account the existing stockpiles would freeze "the existing asymmetries".
The Director General Disarmament said that India has been given "discriminatory waivers", which add to Pakistan's security concerns.
He said that eight of the Indian reactors, its fast breeder programme and approximately five tonnes of reactor-grade plutonium were included in the safeguards of dictated by the IAEA.
The FMCT would put Pakistan at a permanent disadvantage and undermine its security interests, Akhtar added.
There is a fear that the reactors not mandated by the safeguards might be used clandestinely for plutonium production and the existing stockpiles might be diverted to a military programme at a subsequent stage, the DG said.
--IANS
