US-India nuclear pact
(The Nation,Pakitan)

It took Islamabad a little while to examine the US-India defence and nuclear framework deal and show concern at its implications for the region. General Musharraf told the National Command Authority at a meeting on Saturday that Pakistan did not want to engage in an arms race but would not close its eyes to the induction of advanced weaponry in its neighbourhood. Nevertheless, the overall reaction remained mild, with an unnamed official earlier indicating that the ‘Pakistani government was not much perturbed over’ it. The proposed nuclear cooperation needs Congressional approval that should not be difficult for the Bush administration to secure. It affords further evidence that the US policymakers feel neither constrained by international law nor concerned about the reactions of others, including friends and allies, while pursuing their unilateralist policies. Flying in the face of its international obligations and treaties, the US would, if it so chooses, have no hesitation in bestowing favours on a country that could advance its strategic interests, while at the same time seek to punish others it perceives to be violating these very treaties. The deal clearly goes against the stipulations of the Nuclear Suppliers’ Group that was, in fact, formed as a reaction to India’s nuclear test in May 1998 as well as the NPT.
If accepting the hard reality that New Delhi had already demonstrated its nuclear weapons capability was a factor in according it a virtual ‘nuclear power’ status, hitherto restricted to the five nations that possessed nuclear weapons at the time of the conclusion of the NPT in 1968, the US would have shown willingness to treat Islamabad on the same footing. But the assurance given by Secretary Rice to General Musharraf on telephone soon after the deal was struck that the US cooperation was only confined to India’s nuclear reactors for peaceful purposes, and was not against Pakistan or any other country, raised no hope that Washington would be inclined to consider Islamabad for the same privilege. Pakistan should, therefore, be under no illusion that the US would strike a similar deal with it. After all, its relations with India and Pakistan are not a zero sum game, it has repeatedly told Islamabad. However, Pakistani officials have been quoted as saying that talks would be initiated with the US to secure cooperation in the field of nuclear energy. They believed that the Indo-US deal had reduced the chances of a vital pact on advance notification of missile tests that could have been signed during the Indo-Pak nuclear talks scheduled for August 5-6.
Dr Singh’s ranting about Pakistan being an unsafe custodian of nuclear weapons and the earlier tirade accusing it of allowing terrorist training camps on its soil were designed to warn the US against any thought of according it a similar privilege. And should India decide to withdraw from the talks on the Iranian gas pipeline following hopes of meeting its energy needs under this agreement, it is unlikely that Pakistan could go ahead on its own. Washington would not give it exemption from its law that forbids business deals with Tehran beyond a certain amount.