candypreet
08-31-2005, 12:06 PM
By Anwar Iqbal
WASHINGTON, Aug 30: Pakistan can also receive civilian nuclear cooperation from the US if it can offer guarantees similar to what India is offering in return for the deal it has signed with the US, Stephen P. Cohen, an expert on India, Pakistan and South Asian security, told Dawn.
Mr Cohen, a senior fellow at Washington’s Brookings Institution, however, warned that because of Pakistan’s past record the international community would like to verify Islamabad’s assurances before offering it any deal.
Other experts disagreed. They said that Pakistan should not expect similar cooperation from the US because it did not have a good record of protecting its nuclear assets.
President Bush announced the deal to share civilian nuclear technology with India during Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to the White House last month. The US Congress is expected to debate the deal during the fall session which begins on Sept 6.
The Indo-US agreement will have far-reaching consequences for Pakistan which, like India, is an unrecognized nuclear weapon state and has not yet signed the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty.
Mr Cohen said the proposed deal provides Pakistan with an opportunity to do the same thing that the Indians have pledged to do, which is to separate their civilian nuclear facilities from military facilities and make the civilian side “utterly transparent.”
He said the Indians recently made a new tough law about not sharing nuclear technology with others. “Pakistan already has a similar law but its record speaks for itself,” said Mr Cohen while referring to Dr A. Q. Khan’s confession that he supplied nuclear technology to Iran, Libya and North Korea.
India, he said, has agreed to abide by all the conditions of the NPT without signing it and Pakistan needs to do the same.
“Trust but verify,” said Mr Cohen when asked if the US could trust Pakistan after the discovery of the Khan network of nuclear proliferators. “They must keep their military nuclear facilities under lock and key. It is in Pakistan’s interest to do so.”
Asked if Pakistan could expect similar cooperation from the US as India was receiving if it provided these assurances, Mr Cohen said: “It would be possible, and the same would be true for Israel.”
He said India and Pakistan were in the same category while Israel was slightly different, but all three were non-NPT nuclear-weapon states.
Mr Cohen said it was possible to widen the Indo-US deal to include other nations as “it might strengthen the agreement if other countries brought into it.”
Michael Krepon, co-founder of another Washington think-tank, the Henry L. Stimson Center, however, believes that Pakistan is unlikely to get any benefit from the Indo-US deal because Pakistan’s track record over the past decade with respect to nuclear non-proliferation has not been good.
“Before Pakistan can achieve the same benefits that India has achieved from the Bush administration, it has to have a sustained outstanding record of nuclear stewardship,” he said.
Mr Krepon said the best Pakistan could hope for was to make this relaxation of nuclear commerce much more general, not India-specific.
“In Washington some will be in favor of this, particularly those who want to sell plants, but there will be a lot of scepticism about the wisdom of opening this door to everyone.”
Other members of the Nuclear Suppliers Group, he said, might also seek exemptions for other countries.
http://www.dawn.com/2005/08/31/top9.htm
WASHINGTON, Aug 30: Pakistan can also receive civilian nuclear cooperation from the US if it can offer guarantees similar to what India is offering in return for the deal it has signed with the US, Stephen P. Cohen, an expert on India, Pakistan and South Asian security, told Dawn.
Mr Cohen, a senior fellow at Washington’s Brookings Institution, however, warned that because of Pakistan’s past record the international community would like to verify Islamabad’s assurances before offering it any deal.
Other experts disagreed. They said that Pakistan should not expect similar cooperation from the US because it did not have a good record of protecting its nuclear assets.
President Bush announced the deal to share civilian nuclear technology with India during Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to the White House last month. The US Congress is expected to debate the deal during the fall session which begins on Sept 6.
The Indo-US agreement will have far-reaching consequences for Pakistan which, like India, is an unrecognized nuclear weapon state and has not yet signed the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty.
Mr Cohen said the proposed deal provides Pakistan with an opportunity to do the same thing that the Indians have pledged to do, which is to separate their civilian nuclear facilities from military facilities and make the civilian side “utterly transparent.”
He said the Indians recently made a new tough law about not sharing nuclear technology with others. “Pakistan already has a similar law but its record speaks for itself,” said Mr Cohen while referring to Dr A. Q. Khan’s confession that he supplied nuclear technology to Iran, Libya and North Korea.
India, he said, has agreed to abide by all the conditions of the NPT without signing it and Pakistan needs to do the same.
“Trust but verify,” said Mr Cohen when asked if the US could trust Pakistan after the discovery of the Khan network of nuclear proliferators. “They must keep their military nuclear facilities under lock and key. It is in Pakistan’s interest to do so.”
Asked if Pakistan could expect similar cooperation from the US as India was receiving if it provided these assurances, Mr Cohen said: “It would be possible, and the same would be true for Israel.”
He said India and Pakistan were in the same category while Israel was slightly different, but all three were non-NPT nuclear-weapon states.
Mr Cohen said it was possible to widen the Indo-US deal to include other nations as “it might strengthen the agreement if other countries brought into it.”
Michael Krepon, co-founder of another Washington think-tank, the Henry L. Stimson Center, however, believes that Pakistan is unlikely to get any benefit from the Indo-US deal because Pakistan’s track record over the past decade with respect to nuclear non-proliferation has not been good.
“Before Pakistan can achieve the same benefits that India has achieved from the Bush administration, it has to have a sustained outstanding record of nuclear stewardship,” he said.
Mr Krepon said the best Pakistan could hope for was to make this relaxation of nuclear commerce much more general, not India-specific.
“In Washington some will be in favor of this, particularly those who want to sell plants, but there will be a lot of scepticism about the wisdom of opening this door to everyone.”
Other members of the Nuclear Suppliers Group, he said, might also seek exemptions for other countries.
http://www.dawn.com/2005/08/31/top9.htm