NEW YORK: Facing international pressure over safety of its nuclear
weapons, Pakistan has said it has taken steps to augment their security
as it shares concerns that "non-state actors or terrorists" may acquire
and use them.
Pakistan shares concerns that "non-state actors
or terrorists may acquire and potentially use nuclear materials and
cause serious economic, political and psychological consequences",
Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar told a UN meet on nuclear security
that policies and practices here.
"We have demonstrated through
our political commitment and actions the importance that we attach to
nuclear security. We have engaged constructively inter alia with the
Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism and the Nuclear Security
Summit processes," she said.
In an apparent reaction to the
India-US civil nuclear deal, Khar contended that recent changes have
"dealt major blows" to the non-proliferation regime and sought similar
cooperation from the world’s atomic powers.
Without naming
India or referring to the India-US nuclear deal, she said: "based on
commercial and political considerations, have eroded the sanctity of
long-standing norms and legal instruments that underpin the
non-proliferation regime".
"The global non-proliferation
architecture has witnessed major transformations in recent years. We
have seen trends and policies that have dealt major blows to the
non-proliferation regime," she told the high-level Meeting on Nuclear
Safety and Security in New York yesterday.
The US and other
western countries fear Pakistan’s nuclear weapons programme could lead
to fissile material falling into the hands of terrorists or a
devastating nuclear exchange with India. Online
