The U.S. has conveyed its "concerns" to Islamabad over China's sale of two civilian nuclear reactors to Pakistan, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Monday.
The U.S. has conveyed its "concerns" to Islamabad over China's
sale of two civilian nuclear reactors to Pakistan, U.S. Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton said Monday.
Washington
has
already sought clarification from
Beijing
on
the deal to build two new 650-megawatt reactors in
Pakistan
's
Punjab
province, saying it must be approved by the Nuclear Suppliers Group, or NSG.
"We believe that the NSG, which has recently met to examine the sale that
you are referring to, has posed a series of questions that should be answered
because as part of any kind of transaction involving nuclear power, there are
concerns by the international community,
Pakistan
knows
that,"
Clinton
told
a news conference in the Pakistani capital.
"We have conveyed them (concerns), other members of the NSG conveyed them
and we look forward to answers of those questions posed."
The deal was revealed by the
U.K.
media
in April and comes after
China
's
2004 entry into the NSG--a group of nuclear energy states that forbids exports
to nations lacking strict International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards.
The
U.S.
in
2008 signed a landmark nuclear agreement with
Pakistan
's
archrival
India
and
some analysts believe that laid the ground for
Pakistan
's
deal with
China
.
Pakistan
has
pressed the
U.S.
for a
nuclear deal similar to
India
's.
Clinton
on Monday said
"intensive discussion" had begun to explore a civil nuclear deal with
Pakistan
, but
outlined issues to be addressed including rigorous controls over the export of
nuclear information and material.
These include concerns over Abdul Qadeer Khan, father of
Pakistan
's
nuclear bomb, who confessed in 2004 to sending nuclear secrets to
Iran
,
Libya
and
North
Korea
, although he later retracted
his remarks.
"Export controls, and the problem with Mr. AQ Khan raises a red flag for people
around the world and not just in the
USA
,
because we can trace the export of nuclear information and material from
Pakistan
through all kinds of channels to many different countries. That is an
issue,"
Clinton
told
a town hall meeting in
Islamabad
.
She also criticized
Pakistan
for
opposing a proposed international treaty to prohibit the further production of
fissile material for nuclear weapons or other explosive devices.
"I just want you to understand that we are fulfilling our commitment to
pursue this...but it is not a one-way street."
"There has to be an awareness that certain questions that people have in
their minds...must be addressed," Clinton said.
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