Pakistan on Wednesday rapped a U.S. Congress panel for backing a bill that would provide archrival India with U.S. nuclear technology
Media Release
Jun. 28, 2006

Pakistan on Wednesday rapped a U.S. Congress panel for backing a bill that would provide archrival India with U.S. nuclear technology.

The Foreign Ministry said that the proposed U.S. nuclear cooperation deal with India will trigger a nuclear arms race between the two South Asian neighbors, which have already fought three wars.

"We have cautioned the international community about the consequences of this agreement for the shared objectives of stability in South Asia and a strong global nonproliferation regime," the ministry said in a statement.

"Pakistan does not accept any discriminatory treatment," it said.

Pakistan's criticism follows Tuesday's 37-5 vote by the U.S. Congress'' International Relations Committee that exempted India from American laws that restrict nuclear trade with countries that have not submitted to full nuclear inspections.

India and Pakistan carried out nuclear tests in 1998 and both have developed their nuclear weapons program outside the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

President George W. Bush offered the nuclear deal to New Delhi during a visit to India in March when he also toured Pakistan. But Bush declined to give the same facility to Pakistan.

Pakistani leaders have repeatedly said that their country's economy is growing and it needs energy from various sources, including nuclear.

Pakistan is a key U.S. ally in the war against terrorism.

Pakistan's reaction to the Congress committee came a day after a visit to Islamabad by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Rice, speaking after talks with President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, promised that Washington will continue negotiations with Pakistan on energy cooperation, but she did not indicate whether nuclear energy was a subject.

"We are going to continue to have discussions about how to meet Pakistan's energy needs," Rice said Tuesday at a news conference with Pakistan's Foreign Minister Khursheed Kasuri.

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